Walking the Streets of Rage
by Stefan422
Summary: Mr. X was the top crime boss throughout Wood Oak City, watching as the thugs of The Syndicate committed attacks on the innocent. Blaze Fielding was able to destroy him with the help of her friends and allies, but when a successor to the crime boss arises with a terrorist organization by the name of Neo Chaos, the vigilantes find that they must walk the streets of rage once again.
1. Chapter 1

**NOTE:** This is an A/U Streets of Rage fanfiction story, so the canon presented here will be entirely one of my own. Elements will be taken from the SEGA games, the Mark Millar comics, Matt Drury's Streets of Rage Saga novels, and my own imagination, meaning that a few OC's will be present, and that things will generally be different. How different? You'll have to read and see. . .

 **Walking the Streets of Rage**

 **Issue #1: Back To The Grind**

Blaze Fielding walked down the exotic-looking blue brick road of her city, headed to her destination. As she passed buildings restaurants, and other establishments, she took the opportunity to enjoy the feeling of quietness and what could barely pass as serenity, even though she knew it was only temporary. Their city was once again in a terrible state as it turned out, and she was in a mood to do something about it. A mood to fight.

Her destination was a little bit of a ways from her current location—a few blocks away to be exact. Blaze had been called to action once again by a man named Robert Murphy, her friend, and trusted ally. He had wanted her and the other heroes to help clean up this city. They'd done it before, after all. A year ago Murphy, sick of the disgustingly rampant crime and corruption that ran amok in their beloved Wood Oak City, called her, her other friends—her best friends Adam and Axel after work, and proposed they go vigilante and take the fight to the boss himself: Mr. X.

Even though they'd never at all thought about taking the law into their own hands before, they were instantly on board. In the eyes of some, vigilantism was frowned upon, but the decisions of the four were completely justified. Beatings, rapes, and robberies could happen to absolutely anyone at any time. The judicial system was just as bad, with criminals getting off with little to no punishment, assuming they actually made it to the courtroom to begin with. It had all been the work of Mr. X and his organization, The Syndicate, and it had to come to an end. Axel and Blaze immediately quit their jobs as cops, with Murphy and Adam staying on the force, their reason being that they believed they could help to fix things on the inside.

It had gone better than they thought in that their actions of deciding to become vigilantes, encouraged others to do the same. It had began with Adam's little brother, Sammy, or Skate as he liked to be called, who then told his best friend Melanie Lancaster, continued on with Axel's older sister, Tina, and his best friend, Max Thunder. Two men known as Karl Haupstein (AKA: Dreadnought) and Dr. Gilbert Zan had somehow gotten word of the situation and two women, Electra—or Elle as she preferred, and Salvo Medaglia who'd been acquainted with them on some level felt inclined to give assistance as well. With their team assembled, they'd hit the streets with Murphy at their head.

Murphy was a natural leader, and the only one, maybe besides Blaze herself, who everybody thought was best suited to lead the group. Murphy was in charge of his own precinct, and could be hard-assed and strict, but he always believed in justice no matter WHAT. It even extended to the point where he didn't consider family family if they were bad enough people. Once a deranged cousin of his had gone as far as to break into a family's home, kill the middle-aged couple that owned it, along with their six-year old boy that had been sleeping in the next room, in cold blood. When questioned why he would do such a thing by Murphy's officers, he'd shamelessly admitted to the fact that he didn't have a reason other than it being that he wanted 'a good time'. When Murphy came in to see him behind bars, he had to resist spitting in disgust, instead opting to simply snarl out the response that consisted of him telling his cousin they were no longer related, and that excuses for people like him didn't deserve to live.

Despite the harsh sounding remark he'd given his own cousin, Murphy was a good man as far as Blaze was concerned. He'd relentlessly fight for the good of the city, his home. And he was more than capable of doing it, too. The man could seemingly take anyone in a fight, with only the likes of Axel, Adam, and Blaze being able to beat him in a spar. In his earlier years of police work, Murphy had been called to a scene where a large group of gangbangers were brutalizing an unfortunate group of college students, laying into them with fists, bats, and pipes. Several more had formed a wall of protection around the scene to block out any interference. When Murphy arrived, hearing the screams of torment, he drew his gun as a bluff and ordered the men to stop and back away. The men laughed in his face and advanced, only to be defeated easily. He'd rendered both groups of hoodlums with broken wrists, black eyes and busted jaws, all while barely receiving a scratch from the offending party.

Despite his fighting calibre, Murphy stayed behind the scenes and gave them their tasks, and somethings acted as an overseer to the group on missions, warning them of any incoming enemies and passageways with the help of a hidden camera network installed by Christine, one of the only other good cops that Murphy trusted to aid them. Before they'd gone after X, Christine had been able to cleverly plant the cameras in various parts of the city, lying to her and Murphy's corrupt superior that she was merely installing public cameras for law enforcement purposes. Christine was also responsible for supplying air support to the team in the form of a hail of armour-piercing gunfire to mow down even the toughest of Mr. X's goons. The problem was, that such powerful ammo was limited, forcing them to only call for Christine's help in dire emergencies.

In the end, however, they'd killed Mr. X, and crushed his Syndicate, allowing the city to temporarily return to serenity and allowing the heroes to enjoy a period of rest and relaxation before history repeated itself. This time things would be arguably harder, since vigilantism had recently been outlawed. Blaze could only guess that it was the doing of another crime boss of another organization, given the state that the city was in. Not that it was going to stop her in the slightest. The thought brought sort of a triumphant smile to her young, lovely features.

Blaze suddenly felt a short buzz accompanied by a chime in the pocket of her red jacket (that she wore like a second skin, with a matching skirt, grey leggings and custom red, black trimmed sneakers), signifying that a text had come in. Having a good idea who it would be from, she reached for it and pulled it out. A quick gaze at the screen confirmed her suspicions. It was Axel asking where she was. She figured it'd be either him or Adam. She replied,

 **Blaze F:** _Around the corner from the entrance. Will b there soon._

She held onto the phone just in case he responded back quickly, which he usually did. A second buzz and chime respectively reverberated from the device. Her brown eyes wandered to the glowing screen.

 **Axel S:** _K. I'm in the tunnels already. Theyre a bitch to get through. See u soon._

A quick reply back.

 **Blaze F:** _You 2. Be careful._

Blaze smiled in spite of herself, stowing her iPhone 5S back into the pocket of her jacket. She was the cautious type, and she just couldn't help attempting to project that view onto her friends, especially when they were on missions as vigilantes. Even when they were cops.

Rounding the corner, she instantly recognized her surroundings as her destination without even needing to try. That one specific chain of establishments—that one Starbucks on one side and a Path Mark on the other, right next to the Verizon store. She sped up her walking pace until she arrived at an unmarked manhole cover firmly lodged over the circular entrance. Blaze squatted down and curled four fingers on each hand around the eight holes that were on the edges of the cover, specifically made for gripping. She groaned a bit trying to get it off, but managed to lift the cover off with a little bit of difficulty.

She checked to be sure she was alone. She was.

She scaled down the notches used for getting in and out of the sewers, pulling the cover back over the hole, putting her in temporary darkness. A faint unpleasantness invaded the lone vigilante's nostrils, prompting her to wrinkle her nose in disgust. Blaze knew it was a bit lighter down in the actual sewers, so she relied on her sense of touch as she climbed downward until her feet could feel could feel no more notches, at which point she jumped down, landing spryly onto the stone surface below. There were a few dimly lit lamps as Blaze remembered, and they helped to give her some assistance while padding along the high ground.

A tiny bit more of a ways in, and the lamps got brighter, granting her more sight of the incredibly _massive_ sewer system of Wood Oak City. Blaze personally found it amazing that their city's sewers and underground tunnels—including their underground train stations, were expansive to the point of being like entire universes on their own, stretching across for miles and miles on end. Blaze came to the end of where the high-ground portion ran, and hopped down to lower and lower ground until she reached the 'floor' of the sewer. She eyed the murky stream of garbage and God-knows what to her left and moved over closer to the wall, away from the nasty water. Coming up to a corner, she had to strain her ears even more than she was, but she could hear faint footsteps approaching. Looking to her right, Blaze spotted an alcove in the slightly mossy wall that led a bit further in and heard the footsteps increase in volume. A measure of stealth was required.

She dipped into the alcove and hid in time to avoid being seen by the passing people, men from the sounds of their echoing voices. It would also turn out that they were mere sewer workers, and thus harmless. Still, Blaze saw the need to stay hidden to avoid any other complications. Being down here as a civilian was barely legal as it was. She waited until the workers finally passed by before dashing out of the area.

Now further into the sewers, Blaze's ears were still strained in the dingy space, still on the lookout for anymore interferences. They pricked up when they caught notice of another pair of footsteps around the corner. Blaze stopped in her tracks, and to her surprise, so did the mysterious footsteps. But what happened next instantly cleared up any uncertainty about what was happening.

Her phone went off, signifying that she'd got a text.

 **Axel S:** _That u?_

Blaze smirked, and sent back a thumbs up emoji. The footsteps now jogged a short distance before rounding the corner, revealing the face and form of Axel Stone, one of her her best friends since childhood.

"Hey," Came his simple greeting. Laconic as always. She smiled.

"Hey yourself," She replied, a sudden curiosity striking her. "Come in through one of the sewer entrances over by where you live?"

"Nah. I came in through the one on 3rd. Didn't feel like walking a marathon."

Blaze chuckled. "Yeah, the suburbs are pretty far from here. I'd imagine you'd be down here in this stench for hours."

Axel shot her a half-smile. He always was the serious type. Oh and angry. That too. Axel could get _extremely_ angry, especially during fights that got especially intense. But he was a genuinely good person, no one could deny him that. But despite this perceived flaw, he _was_ capable of having fun. Be it in high school when Adam and Blaze wanted to celebrate a succesful test, or the destruction of Mr. X and The Syndicate that had taken place just one year ago.

Axel was a master in every single martial art that existed, and had opened a dojo in the suburbs to pass on some of his extensive knowledge to ordinary civilians. He may have went easier there, but on the streets, Axel went all-out. He punched, kicked, elbowed, and kneed with the ferocity of a roaring dragon, never ceasing to rain holy hell on his opponents. He was one of few people to match the skills of their now-teammate Shiva, a powerful fighter that only few could rival.

While Blaze herself couldn't say she was at that level, she was an extremely capable fighter nonetheless in every sense of the word. Blaze had developed a style of Judo that was more physical in that it included more uses of punching and kicks, which worked extremely well. Sometimes she didn't even need to use her powers when she fought. And like Axel, who possessed pyrokinetic abilities, Blaze had superpowers of her own to compliment her natural skill in the form of being able to project chi and plasma energy respectively. While the chi had come on its own a year after she started fighting, the plasma energy was a result of a chemical mixture of some nature spilling into an open wound during an chemistry experiment in her early high school years. She was assured that the blue substance was harmless, but that night she'd caused a freak accident by blowing a hole through her room with a simple hand gesture. She'd been inexperienced then, but she quickly gained full control of the power and utilized it fully to help destroy Mr. X and his thugs come adulthood.

Axel's expression reverted back to its normal serious look. They came to an intersection and headed down the right path after a moment of consideration.

"What do you think is going on with the city? Think that bastard X is back alive?"

Blaze furrowed at that. Despite having a genius IQ of 271, her brain could not arrive at a conclusion as to how the crime boss could've just come back from the grave. She opened her mouth to speak, about to elaborate to him her reasoning, when they saw the Hunter brothers approach them from the opposite end.

"Yo!" Adam greeted with a smile and a sharp incline of the head, as if to say 'what's up?'. His hands were relaxedly stuffed in the pockets of his dark jeans, and his boots made a certain thudding noise that became more audible to them the closer he came.

"'Sup, guys?" Skate grinned, skating over to slap Axel and Blaze high-fives after Adam had done so.

"Hunter brothers," Blaze smiled, looking them over one at a time before nodding. "Glad we were able to actually run into you guys."

"You too. All these tunnels look the same. We may as well be rats in a maze down in these sewers!" Skate said crossing his arms with mild annoyance. Like Axel and Blaze, they'd run into a bit of confusion early on, and we're glad they actually located two friends.

"Yeah," Adam attested with a little sigh, tilting his head to one side briefly. "But I'm thinking we'll get used to it."

Adam smiled a little. He was an something of an optimist, but a realistic one. He was laid-back, easygoing, and a good big brother to his younger sibling, Skate. He was Axel and Blaze's best friend, and a dedicated senior ranking police officer of the Wood Oak Police Department. He, alongside Murphy attempted to fix things from within their precinct, but their efforts often achieved minimal success during times of corruption, due to the many riots started by those he worked alongside in the force. Of course, he ultimately decided to work alongside his two best friends and the others to save the city, and save it he did. It came at a price along the way, though. At the time, Shiva had been his enemy, and he had become his captor. One night at his boss's instruction, Shiva had broken into Adam's house and attempted to kidnap him, bring him to one of the various Syndicate bases located in the city, where he would be tortured into joining Mr. X's ranks. He was the team's best fighter, and as much as Shiva hated to admit it, would be a hell of an asset to them if he could surmount him in a one-on-one encounter. Shiva partly succeeded, managing to defeat Adam, evening the score, and drag his unconscious body to the torture room, but Adam was able to escape the room on his own. It was the reinforcements that came as a result of his actions that proved to be a problem. Luckily, the rest of the team arrived on time to help Adam take care of the issue, and get him out of there. Adam had since moved past the event itself, but would always harbor a special hatred for the Japanese martial artist.

The same could be said for the younger brother of the two, Skate. He never forgave Shiva for his actions, and the fact that he'd insisted on expressing his bitterness for his failure instead of any amount of remorse for what he'd done wasn't earning him any points with him. He may have reserved animosity for Shiva, but ordinarily, Skate wasn't that bad of a guy at all. He was a gifted breakdancer, liked hanging out with his friends, never turned down an invitation to party, and **never** passed up an opportunity to joke or wisecrack at whatever may have been the case, be it his friends, or at some absurd situation. One of his favorite hobbies was rollerblading. In-line skates were his favorite, and how he got his nickname. It had started with the kids in his school, then it spread to his town, with even the neighbours getting in on it, pretty much causing it to stick. And he loved it. The moniker was warranted. He was a genius on skates in more ways than one, too. Not only could he impeccably trick and stunt for hours without fail, but he even managed to construct a devastating style around his breakdancing. He flipped, spun, and kicked his enemies in a blur of finesse and now especially speed, thanks to the super skates that he now wore. They were a handmade birthday present from Blaze for the teen's 17th birthday, and a hell of a present, to put it mildly. They were a slightly dark shade of red, like Skate's old skates but were lined with a neon orange trim. Aesthetics weren't the only new thing about them, obviously. They were called 'Super' Skates because they enabled the wearer to move at up to 200 MPH. It was hard enough for Mr. X's men to get ahold of him back when he wore his regular skates to battle, but now he would be almost untouchable on the streets.

"I hope so, at least," Axel muttered in response to Adam, frowning at his surroundings.

"Until we get to finding more of the group in these shit tunnels, I guess we're just the four musketeers, huh?" Skate cracked.

"Nope! It's more like five!" Reverberated the boisterously cheery voice of Melanie Lancaster. The teen girl herself had emerged from a sewage pipe on the upper level and had taken a running leap onto the area below where the rest of the vigilantes were, making a three-point landing, her right fist acting as her balance as she crouched.

Skate, who was the first to greet her, immediately rushed forward as she did for a dude hug, slamming their shoulders into each others and patting each other on the back with huge matching smiles plastered on their visages.

"Melanie! Dude!" Skate enthused, finally pulling back. She flashed him her pearly white diastemic smile and matched his enthusiasm.

"Good to see you too, man!" Melanie laughed. "It _already_ feels like forever since we've seen each other!"

She went on to exchanged greetings and high-fives with the others present, and giving Adam a hug. Melanie was a jovial and boisterous soul, and a tomboy—through and through. She hated makeup, nail polish, and shopping for clothes, preferring boyish activities, such as videogames and dirt biking. Her past as a former orphan had made her deeply value the concept of family, especially after becoming adopted by Richard and Danica Lancaster, two wonderful parents who loved and supported Melanie, and accepted who she was.

One of Melanie's most prominent traits was that she absolutely loved to fight. Loved the rush it gave her, loved the feeling of her power-packed kicks and punches flying about, and ducking and weaving clear of her opponent's. She trained to better her already-razor sharp skills everyday, and be it a fight against a gaggle of ordinary roughnecks who solely relied on knives and guns to legitimately skilled fighters, in Melanie's opinion, it was easily one of the greatest things ever. She employed a rough and graceless patchwork fighting style, with influences from various other styles. Interested in all fighting, Melanie couldn't decide which style to choose, so she decided on grabbing tiny bits from a great many. She was a self-taught fighter, and a particularly great one at that. In the past, she'd come to almost beat Adam in a spar, making her the third best fighter on the team coming right next to Shiva.

Blaze had been pleasantly surprised to run into Melanie as she'd been upon running into Adam and Skate, but her youthful features went deadly serious upon remembering what she'd been getting at before.

"I was telling Axel how it's pretty much impossible for Mr. X to be back."

"How could he be back? We killed him and destroyed his bases, along with any resources that could've brought him back to life," Skate commented before curiously adding, "Did he have immortality powers we don't know about?"

Adam frowned thoughtfully. "Given what we've already seen, its possible, bro, but I also think it's more than just that. Mr. X was _huge._ Had every politician and law organization in his pocket. He could've easily arranged his resurrection preemptively."

"Adam's right. X was mentally fucked, but he wasn't stupid. He'd always have backup plans ready, even when he was alive."

"So now we'd have a second son of a bitch to worry about." Melanie put in, knowing that someone smart enough to resurrect someone from the dead was more than likely to be a threat.

"If Adam's theory checks out, yeah." Axel said shoving his hands into his jean pockets.

"How do you think this mystery person—if there is one—brought him back?" Skate asked, the question more aimed at Blaze.

"Well they could've been given an artificial heart to send huge amounts of energy back into the body's systems, could've been subjected to biochemical experimentation, resurrected as half machine altogether, and all that's barely scratching the surface."

"You can probably do all of that stuff yourself, can't you?" Melanie asked wryly, shaking her head. Blaze faced her with a small, but somehow guilty-looking grin that was all the answer she needed.

"I _did_ build an AI system for my house when I was a freshman," Blaze said, smiling at the memory of her parents' terrified reactions to said system. Her expression went serious again as she continued on with her thought. "But if X is back, and there's someone else behind the scenes, we'll bring them down."

The others silently agreed, pondering the adventure that awaited them, complete verbal silence following. The only thing that could've been heard was the sound of sneakers (as well as a pair of boots and the roll of a pair of skates) thudding the stone sewer ground over the ambient sound of rushing sewer water. Blaze's voice abruptly cut through the silence.

"Ah, we're on the right track," She pointed to the higher left wall at a spot of bright yellow graffiti oddly spelling out ' _IT'S LIKE BOO_ '. "Murphy said to make two more lefts as soon as we saw that graffiti up there. Gotta wonder what that means, though."

"Thought someone with 200-plus IQ points would be able to translate for us." Skate quipped.

"My intelligence doesn't normally extend to decoding drunken messages written in spray paint." Blaze returned, chuckling. Her response garnered a similar reaction from Skate himself, and several others present. With conversation sort of picking up again, she spoke once more as they walked on.

"So, what's been happening for everyone lately?" Blaze asked with a smile, nudging Axel with a smile. "Still giving that cute brunette at Starbucks the eye?"

"Andrea? Yeah." Axel chuckled softly and gave a subdued smile. Blaze's comment made the blonde vigilante's head with images of the woman of his affection: Andrea Cervantes. She had rich, brown, flowing hair, light caramel toned skin, always wore stylish jeggings and sandals, and had engaging brown eyes and a similar smile. From when they talked, Axel caught a 'party girl' vibe off of her which he admired. He couldn't even lie, he liked her.

Axel wasn't a very routine person at all when it came to most things, but due to his recent work schedule changes, he'd developed a certain routine for his Thursday mornings. He'd wake up, eat breakfast while watching the morning news, then catch up on last night's DVR-recorded episode of _American Ninja Warrior_ (Their country of Lima was very close to the United States, so they got alot of American-exclusive shows) before heading out to enjoy the morning with a cup of Starbucks coffee. At that point it would usually be around 10:30ish, and that's when Andrea would be on her shift. As soon as he caught her eye, she'd always automatically begin preparing his drink—which she knew by heart: a Venti-sized hot french-vanilla cappuccino with whipped cream.

They'd chatted as Axel drank his coffee and even as Andrea tended to the other customers, having became friends through Axel's 'regular' status at that particular Starbucks. Axel had treated her to more than a few lingering looks and wanted to ask her out, but felt that he couldn't, due to his hectic schedule, much to his dismay.

"You two would go great together," Adam threw in with a smile. "When are you finally gonna ask her out?"

"Nervous?" Blaze inquired with a smile.

"Not it," Axel shook his head responded truthfully. Mostly anyway. "Just up to my neck in shit to do. Between work and other stuff going on, there's almost no time. I'm working out how to revise my schedule a bit. I've been on overload lately."

"Get to it then, loverboy. She's into you, I can tell." Blaze smiled with a wink. She'd been there to firsthandedly witness how the two reacted one day while she and Axel had went on a quick coffee run. Her intuition was seldom wrong, and by the way Andrea's brown eyes traveled along his frame whenever Axel took his eyes off of her own form to spare the quick glance out of the large window of the shop, Axel's Latin crush had been interested in him as well.

Axel allowed himself a tiny smile as he looked into Blaze's encouraging expression. His next words to her came out clear and decisive.

"I'll give it my all to turn myself from single to taken the next time I run into her."

After getting approving nods all around, he then turned the floor over to Melanie, raising a certain point in a completely non-critical manner.

"So how didn't we hear you coming, Melanie? You're usually loud enough to wake the dead."

"Oh that? The pipe that I came out of had moss literally growing on the fucking ground. It really muffled my footsteps, I guess." Melanie chuckled before turning to Skate. "And I don't know what you're complaining about, bro. These sewers are fucking awesome. I'd be down here all the time if I could."

"The _smell_ wouldn't bother you?" Blaze said, quirking an eyebrow up in a mixture of amusement and incredulousness. Melanie happily shook her head.

"Should have known the answer to that, knowing you." Blaze remarked, smiling, before addressing the elder Hunter. "So Adam, does it feel awkward being in a hardly-legal area being a cop?"

"Nah," Adam answered with a chill wave, returning her smile. "If I'm ever caught down here I can say I'm an undercover officer, chasing a lead. And it's also kinda nostalgic, y'know? Remember that time we went after the Toxic Gang?"

"Christ," Axel remarked, memories of that particular escapade rushing back to him. The notorious Toxic Gang had utilized a deadly gas of their creation composed of something akin to cyanide, botulinum and something else even the WOPD's drug experts couldn't identify. The sadistic gang's members had all worn gas masks for both protection against their own homemade death and an added fear effect. They'd since been shut down by the three, who'd all been executed by the chair as punishment for their inhuman attacking methods. "That was crazy."

"Definitely one of our more exciting adventures," Adam smirked.

"I think their hideout was actually down that way over there," Blaze chipped in, pointing to a dark tunnel that led in the opposite direction where they were headed.

"Yep. I remember it like it was yesterday. Those were the days," Adam's face suddenly went sour. "When the WOPD was legit."

"That's why we're here, Adam. To clean up this city—for good this time. Maybe we can get a judicial system that's incorruptible this time." Blaze responded, not unkindly. Adam's expression changed drastically, his face now bearing a grin. He joked lightly with her.

"Heh. One job at a time, there. First thing's first, we've gotta beat these criminal jackasses to hell, where they belong."

"Fuck yeah!" Melanie cheered, already feeling the anticipation fill her at a rapid pace. Her next words barely contained her excitement. "This is gonna be awesome!"

Adam smiled at the girl, chuckling at her elation. "I'd think that Skate would try to come down here more often, too. What'd you get into, bro? Get busted down here by the pigs once?" Adam asked his brother bemusedly, a hint of snarkiness in his voice.

"No!" Skate laughed honestly. His fun-loving personality led him to hang out in more daring areas around the city that one wouldn't normally, and it was not uncommon for him to find himself in legally ambiguous areas such as the sewer system, using the answer of 'It wasn't completely illegal' as a response when questioned. "I don't skate down here because of the smell. Besides, if I got fucked over by the cops, wouldn't you have known about it?"

"Not necessarily in the legit days. When it was up to the honest cops, you'd just get off with a warning. They only really talk about major crimes down at the base." Adam responded.

"Yeah," Blaze said, nodding with Adam, before her look shifted to a curious one. "So how are you guys these days, Adam?"

Adam's mood worsened slightly, as things hadn't been going ideally for his immediate family at the moment. He knew Blaze had only asked out of consideration, but he and his brother were both feeling the strain from it. He exhaled.

"Our mom threw her back out working about a week ago. She's still hurting pretty bad. She's really adamant on cleaning out all the junk in the house, so Skate and I have been going over there to give her a hand."

"Oh man. Sorry, Adam," Blaze said sympathetically, wishing the best for her friend's aged mother.

"Yeah, hope she gets better." Axel agreed with sincerity.

"Shit, that sucks, man," Melanie said, putting a hand on Skate's shoulder.

"How bad is she hurt?" That was Blaze.

" _Bad._ I can see it written all over her face when I look at her. She's in some pain. She can barely walk."

All of their hearts went out to Adam and Skate's mother—Suzanne Hunter, whom life had already not been kind to. Aside from the fact that her husband left her shortly after having Skate, she had to deal with a considerable amount of racist remarks and treatment in her heyday, and didn't want her kids to be exposed to that if she could help it. It was on this basis why she was initially skeptical and disgruntled about Adam having two white friends in middle school in the forms of Blaze and Axel, and regarded the two with high amounts of suspicion regarding the genuineness of their friendship with her son. It took awhile, but they eventually managed to fully gain Suzanne's trust through continued loyalty to Adam, and she even grew to like them to the point where she could treat them like her own. Unfortunately, despite the knowledge that _all_ whites did not hold malicious intent toward black people (with Blaze and Axel as living proof), her bitter experiences had caused her to become cynical regarding white people in general, and those feelings of distrust resurfaced when her younger son, Skate, had befriended Melanie. Fortunately, as with Axel and Blaze, Suzanne came to realize in time that Melanie was indeed a true friend to her son, and had no intentions to hurt or take advantage of him.

None of the aforementioned friends of the brothers really blamed Suzanne for feeling the way she did, knowing full well that a person's experiences were highly possible to shape their personality. But Adam and Skate themselves didn't share their mother's feelings towards white people, and kept their friends from feeling bad in the early stages of their respective friendships. Axel, Blaze and Melanie had become closely acquainted with Suzanne Hunter, and wished her a speedy recovery.

"The second we get a get a free moment from fighting. . .God knows what or who this time, we're coming with you to help you out with your mother," Blaze stated. Her tone wasn't hard or rough, while at the same time carrying a certain decisiveness, similar to that of her leaderly persona that was all-too prominent when she was on the streets. "Chances are she'll still need you even while we're doing this."

Axel silently put a hand on Adam's covered shoulder, both agreeing with his red-clad counterpart and expressing his own support. Adam's mood improved knowing he had their support, and he smiled.

"Thanks guys," Adam sighed gratefully.

"Hey it's no problem!" Melanie assured with a grin, wrapping an arm around Skate as they walked side-by-side. She addressed Skate in particular. "What kind of best friend would I be to leave you hanging, man?"

Skate smiled widely, and correspondingly wrapped an arm around her in return. "Thanks, sis."

"Like I said, it's no problem, bro." Melanie returned gleefully, the terms used during the exchange truly conveying how they felt about one another. The two 17 year olds honestly did see each other as essentially family, having established a sibling-like relationship similar to the three-way friendship of Axel, Adam and Blaze.

The five had been so engrossed in their own conversing that they almost didn't realize they were one turn away from reaching the hideout Murphy obtained for them. They'd come onto to something of a bridge above the sewer current which they crossed, and came to face a rusted steel door with no knob that looked like it hadn't been used in years after rounding a shallow turn. A small padlock that had looked in slightly better shape rested on the upper wall near it.

"The eagles have landed." Blaze smirked, putting in the entry code that she was given by Murphy: _0-5-7-2_.

"Don't you want to call Murphy and let him know we're not intruders?" Skate grinned, good-naturedly teasing. "Or did this God awful smell get to you so bad that it slipped your mind?"

"He knows is us, the place has hidden cameras. Probably watching us as we speak." Blaze replied while giving something between a laugh and a chuckle. The door gave a dull, resounding clang, and opened outwards at a moderate pace, prompting the heroes to step into the massive corridor just past the entryway, the door finally shutting behind them as Skate, the last one in, entered. It thankfully did not smell of the sewers inside, and was a dark grey and made of slenderly carved stone, it's ceiling properly adorned with bright rectangular lights, giving them sight. The first portion of the corridor was a fair distance, before the path took a pointy right turn. From there, however, the vigilantes were prompted to increase the speed their relaxed stroll somewhat, as they saw that a door was already opened for them, and through what they could see through that door was the towering, seven-foot tall wrestler known as Max Thunder, grinning widely and gesticulating for them to enter.

"Heh, there's that angry bastard, Stone!" Max bellowed joshingly, rising from his seat and walking to personally greet the group. He was a social, loud, and showmanlike man, who loved a good bout, especially against those who could contend against his absolutely _fearsome_ , _**car-lifting**_ physical strength, capable of taking down his opponents in a minimal amount of attacks.

"Good to see you, man," Axel said, smiling slightly at the sight of his close and longtime friend, chuckling as Max pulled him into a nearly crushing bear hug. Max had always been known for distributing those.

"Max!" Blaze laughed, making her way over to hug him once Axel was finished. Axel may have been closer to Max than she was, but she too had formed a friendly relationship with the wrestler, and was glad to see him again.

"And there's my girl!" Max boomed, hugging her just as he did Axel. She'd been unaccustomed to Max's bear hugs in the past, but she didn't complain, seeing as his way of showing affection to his friends. As time progressed, she'd gotten used to them, and enjoyed them. Max never really hugged anyone hard enough to do damage, anyway. He was a gentle giant, and would never hurt anyone he called a friend.

" _Max_!" Melanie cried ecstatically, rushing to hug him, just reaching a little above his bare torso. Max hugged the girl affectionately against him with one hugely muscular arm and tousled her hair with the other, causing her grin to widen. Melanie was an avid watcher of professional wrestling, and Max was her favorite. Not just for his mad combat skills and insane winning streaks, but for his personality as well, given that they had much in common. She'd all but fangasmed when she realized that she'd be getting to fight alongside her idol when they'd decided to go up against The Syndicate, and was over the moon to get to once again enjoy that aspect of combating their new challenge.

"Good to see my number one fan!" Max said, smiling widely. He had an enormous fanbase, and even some official merchandise themed after him, but his fans were what he admired most. He'd been flattered by Melanie's idolization of him, and had even given her an autograph and a picture. She was one the only fan he knew personally, making their relationship a unique one.

"We'll definitely see about this guy getting us some missions together," A smiling Max rumbled, jerking his head at Murphy, who simply looked on, waiting for his turn to greet them.

"Oh _fuck_ yeah! It's gonna be awesome like always!" Melanie said rapidly rising onto and off of her toes in sheer anticipation, with her tone of voice reflecting that. Max chuckled at seeing the girl excited to the point of nearly jumping for joy.

Now completely in the spacious room but mostly bare room, made of the same sleek stone, the first five heroes saw that the room they stood in acted as a sort of entryway, as there was a door labeled 'Meeting Room', and several doors marked 'Storage', and 'Corridors' respectively. They also saw that in addition to Max, the room also occupied Karl, Salvo, Electra, Tina, Zan, Rudra, and Shiva, the latter trading a short but intense stare with the hotheaded hero would forever be his greatest rival: Axel.

"Heya, Handsome, long time, no see." Electra seductively purred, uncrossing her leg from her other one before rising to saunter over to Adam, who grinned modestly and chuckled as the woman traced a finger in patterns along his chest. Electra grinned, too, though hers was wider than Adam's—probably wider than the Cheshire Cat's, even.

"Hey, Elle," Adam responded, feeling every motion of the taller woman's gloved finger through the thin cotton material of his yellow coloured shirt. Despite the flirtatious advances that Electra constantly put towards Adam, he didn't return her affection, and though this was known between the both of them, Adam let her have fun with him. He was a chill guy, and besides, he knew that she'd never actually force herself on him. They were friends after all.

"You haven't called since we last saw each other," Elle said, her shiny red lips still pulled back in a grin. They may have been just friends, but that didn't stop her from turning the flirtiness up to 11 when it came to Adam. She found him to be sexy, after all, and there was an equal mix of playfulness and seriousness in her tone whenever she told him something of the sort. "Avoiding me?"

"C'mon, you know that's not it," Adam said, smirking. "Tell you what, I'll make it up to you."

Electra's baby blues glittered. "Oh, _will_ you, now?"

Axel, Blaze, Skate, Melanie, Max, Tina, and Adam himself burst out in either laughter or chuckles respectively.

"Bad choice of words, bro," Skate said, still laughing.

"I walked into that one," Adam sighed, grinning as he ran a hand over his face. Rudra, who'd been sitting quietly, took the opportunity to greet Adam herself.

"Hey, Adam."

Adam put his hands in his pockets and gave the female ninja the sharp upward head gesture in greeting. "Hey, Rudra. How've you been?"

"So she gets a 'How have you been,' but not me? I'm jealous." Elle cut in, smirking.

Rudra knew that Adam meant nothing by apparently asking how Electra had been, and he was probably going to ask at a different time, and that he probably asked her due to her reserved nature. She gave Adam a nearly invisible smile.

"I've been doing well, but I think we should talk about it later."

Adam nodded, and returned her smile as Tina gave Axel a mock two-fingered salute.

"Hey, little brother," Tina greeted with slightly raised eyebrows and a smile.

"Hey," Axel replied, his usually hardened face softening slightly at his older sister's faux surprised expression. "You get here okay?"

"Yeah, got a couple of looks thrown my way, but no thugs. Tunnels were a bitch to get through, though."

Blaze chuckled and motioned to Axel with her head. "That's exactly what he told me. You two really _are_ related."

Tina chuckled somewhat loudly, amused at the news. In that 'sibling' way, she was like Axel, but far different in any other regard. While Axel learned how to fight on his own merits as a teen, she'd gone to their Uncle Adrian for sword training at around the same age. She excelled at various types of swords, but favored the O-katana. Adrian Stone saw that the long blade fit her somewhat patient method of fighting, and trained her extensively in its use, per her request. She'd even gotten the pleasure of having _his_ personal, one-of-a-kind O-katana handed down to her from him. It had two mid-sized square-like cutouts at the bottom and top edges on the inside of the blade, and had a thin but prominent golden trim, the rest of the blade of the sword itself being made of platinum. It fit into a custom back-worn leather sheath, and Tina treasured it with her heart.

"Hello, Blaze," Dr. Zan's cybernetically layered voice acknowledged, accompanied with a neutral look. Blaze knew he wasn't a smiler, but also knew that he was genuinely glad to see her.

"Hey, Zan," Blaze offered a warm smile at her fellow genius. She knew he was noncommunicative when there was a task lying ahead, so Blaze decided to save her 'What have you been up to?' questions for later. Zan seemed to know this from her mere silence that followed, and gave a barely noticeable nod.

Both being brilliant minds, they got along wonderfully, and had even worked on a few pet projects together. The doctor was impressed to the point of seeing if she'd been interested for a job at RoboCy. Blaze had to decline though, claiming that she was fine where she was at as a Private Investigator. Taking on two full time jobs would have driven her to insanity, and she knew it.

"And hey to you too, Salvo. College still hell?"

"As ever," Salvo replied with a good-natured scoff, prompting Karl to smirk as he listened to her talk. Her voice was smooth and unaccented. "Thank God I'm down to my last year."

Along with Elle, Salvo and Karl were both firm supporters of RoboCy, the company having serviced them both. Salvo had been asked to test a special combat armour that would have been for use of the American organization, the FBI, after a then fully human Zan had detected the Devil Atom—Rakushin, originating from her person. She'd told him that it indeed _was_ her, due to her complex and unique genetic makeup, and was brought back to RoboCy for scannings to ensure her stability. After she was cleared, she got close to Zan, to the point where he was willing to help her avenge her mother who'd been killed by a mad, _Phantom of The Opera_ esque mask wearing killer by the name of Herminus. He was scarily good in a fight, and Salvo wasn't sure if she could've survived had it not been for her armour (it was to be scrapped, but the RoboCy workers let Salvo keep it for testing it). It's metal was form fitting, gave her a slight durability boost, and came with 7 blades, two katanas, a ninjato, two wakizashis on the outside of her calves, and two tantōs on the insides. They were all securely tucked in sheaths tightly connected to the armour itself, and could only be unhinged by the pressing of triggers located in the armours palms. The entire armour, swords included, could be retracted back into itself and into the form of a thin, grey band worn around the neck. Add her Rakushin teleporting and radioactive fire powers into the equation, and even the vainest adversary could see that the Italian wasn't to be messed with.

Karl Haupstein had discovered RoboCy through more cataclysmic means. Especially in comparison to Salvo's. He'd been in a terrible car accident, resulting in certain areas of his body being completely destroyed. With a good number of bones splintered, substantial amount of organs shredded, and no hope of the injuries ever healing, Karl thought his life was over even though he'd technically survived the accident. He lay in his hospital bed for days a broken man, physically and emotionally. Eventually, his nurse, who had also happened to be a RoboCy scientist, could not bear to see someone so young suffer any longer, and approached him with an offer. At the time, her division within the company had nearly been finished constructing the Dreadnought project. It was a series of cybernetic implants that when applied correctly, would convert the recipient into a cyborg, granting them limitless physical speed, and an outer shell-like full body armour that could painlessly be retracted into the recipient's body at will. The process would also surely replace Karl's shattered bones with functional metal replacements, averting the cruel fate of being confined to a wheelchair.

As soon as his hospital phase was over, organ transplants finished and non-maimed injuries healed, Karl called the number the nurse had given him right from the hospital, and was brought over to RoboCy. The transformation process went flawlessly. Karl's upper left leg, the entire right side of his ribcage, lower right leg, and top half of his spine were replaced with working metal prosthetics. Upon transforming into his new form, he'd seen that there were eight sheaths—three on the back, four on the arms, and one on the hip—for swords of varying lengths. He happened to be an aspiring bladesmith, and created several swords modeled after the German World War II sabres. Unlike his friend Salvo's, they weren't apart of the Dreadnought armour, so they couldn't be retracted into himself. Karl was glad that he could transform back, and retain a human appearance, as he prided himself on it, though in a way so that he did not come off as pompous. Now, as everyone in the room saw him, he wore a slim, long-sleeved shirt, corduroy pants, and grey Fila Windshift running shoes, He had a soft and angelic face, large blue eyes and platinum blonde hair that fell to the top of his neck, giving the young man an innocent look.

Those in the room (sans Shiva) who hadn't exchanged greetings with the five arriving heroes had taken the time to do so at that moment, with Murphy stopping it as soon as everyone had said their hellos.

"Alright," Murphy started, raising his voice as to ensure the attention of everyone, getting his desired effect. With all eyes on him, he motioned the door that led to the Meeting Room. Since everyone's here, let's not waste time. I got a hell of a story for you all and we need to get on this shit right away."

 _ **To be continued. . .**_

* * *

 **Authors Note:** A 'To be continued' on the first issue. I know, crazy, right?

Which brings us to the first thing I should address. This story will use 'Issues' rather than 'chapters' to replicate the feel of a graphic novel. I did this so that the story would feel like something other than an ordinary fanfic, and I personally like it. I should also mention that characters that seem lacking in background information definitely have backstory, it just isn't shown in this issue. Future issues will shed more light on all characters.

The original SOR characters of mine—Salvo Medaglia and Melanie Lancaster were both carried over from their respective stories because I have such strong adorations for them both, with Melanie being my first OC ever, and Salvo being just that damn cool (she's not a Mary Sue, I swear—she DOES have limitations and weaknesses that later issues will reveal). Speaking of characters, this fic will have 27 of them! All with their own characterizations. I lot I know, but I'll try to make it work. :)

Until next time,

- _ **Stefan442**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Walking the Streets of Rage**

 **Issue #2: New Chaos**

With Murphy at the computer, his team of vigilantes were seated in black wheeled chairs at a dark wooden table, round, glossy and large. The table itself was rectangular, with the edges curved off, giving it a rounded-rectangular look. It was one that Murphy had in his closet at his own house, and hadn't really found a use for, until now.

The computer he glared thinly, but furiously at—though it might have looked like one, was no ordinary iMac. With Zan's help, the computer was upgraded to a tracking device that could detect heat signals, other machines. It could also hack, much to their leader's satisfaction. The brunet cop was gifted at it, and had now used his skill to sniff out any suspicious factions during his time at the WOPD.

"How'd you even get this table down here, Murphy?" Skate asked, gently rotating back and forth in his seat.

"Got it through by using another way in," Murphy said, something of irritability coating the words as he continued to wait for the screen to successfully boot up. Before Skate could ask the follow-up question that was on everyone's mind, he added, "And no, we can't use it. It's right above the Harvey District. We could get followed in."

Salvo raised a curious eyebrow as confusion spread across her olive-skinned face. "That's on the other side of the city."

"I know where it is," Murphy said plainly, not even looking up from the screen of the giant SMART Board-esque device at the front of the room. Salvo didn't know how to respond. She knew that Harvey was an area naturally more prone to crime, being a shitty area in general, but with Murphy's house (where she'd assumed he'd gotten it from) being on the complete opposite end of Wood Oak, genuinely surprised Salvo, which spoke volumes given that she actually knew him. If he'd insisted on bringing that table all the way from Harvey, Robert Murphy was more stubborn than she'd originally thought.

The screen finally blinked to life, initially revealing whiteness, with a single icon of a manila envelope in the center with the words ' ** _Neo_Chaos_High_Ranking_Members_Encrypted_IIIIIII__** ' printed in a plain, yet somehow dangerous looking black font underneath.

"Sounds like our old friend's gotten himself a new Syndicate," Max observed with a smile, clearly eager to add this new organization to his list of criminal organizations he'd brought down.

"It's more than that," Murphy said narrowing his eyes almost unnoticeably at the wrestler.

"Well if it's such a threat, what is it? And what are those lines next to the title of the file supposed to mean?" Shiva asked bitingly, crossing his strong arms.

"The lines are a new covert way of telling how heavily encrypted the files are, and that file has seven lines. It's actually impressive Murphy even managed to get access to these." Blaze explained.

Shiva eyed Blaze with an almost questioning frown. Back when he was working as the bodyguard for Mr. X, he paid close attention to her and her cohorts when in fights with them. To Shiva, paying attention to an adversary simply meant knowing their superpowers and fighting techniques, nothing else. Though it was clear she was a genius, Blaze had never been particularly known to hack—which was a different brand of knowledge altogether. He'd correctly assumed the 23 year-old brunette had probably hacked more than a few systems in her day, but then he also correctly assumed that the acts were done with noble intentions, knowing her.

"She's right about the files," Murphy said, leaning against the stone wall. A small, white remote sat clenched in his left hand, with his thumb sitting gently across some of the buttons. He answered the first part of Shiva's question with an acid tongue. "And I'm sure you'll find Neo Chaos worthy of your time, Shiva. You'll be fighting terrorists."

"Holy shit," Axel said with seriousness, even getting a tad angry. He'd amazingly beaten everyone else to the question, knowing it was on their collective minds. He narrowed his sharp blue eyes. "What kind?"

"Just ordinary ones. Not religious or anything, but still. . ." Murphy trailed off, understanding the phrasing of Axel's question.

"The fact that they're _terrorists_." Adam finished. "And that madman is at their head."

"Yeah, and no." Was Murphy's cryptic response.

" _No_?" Adam repeated curiously, raising both eyebrows.

"Didn't you say Mr. X was the one behind this?" Karl asked, now confused along with Adam. His natural voice was that tone between a high adult voice and a mid-pitched one, and lightly accented with German.

"You heard right. And this is what I mean by it."

Murphy pressed a blue button on the remote.

Many confused frowns broke out upon the faces at the table. Before them was an image of a dark-skinned man who had to be at least 60 years old, with neat, greying dark hair. A prominent feature was the jagged scar that ran diagonally from the corner of his hairline to his ear. It ran across his whole left eye, too, which was left blinded and blackened.

He wore a blue-grey military style suit-jacket, with more buttons than it seemed was necessary—at the top, sleeves, collar, even at the bottom of the top part of the outfit. A far cry from the grinning, bushy eyebrowed, million-dollar green suit wearing Mr. X they knew and killed. Between this new man's outfit, and serious facial expression, his portrait told the vigilantes that he was clearly the one in charge and **_not_ ** to be taken lightly, lest they meet an untimely and messy death.

"A successor. . ." Blaze said, looking at the man's portrait. She saw that there was text to the left of the picture, but ignored it, knowing that Murphy would give them a shortened, yet still accurate version.

"Bingo," Murphy said humorlessly. "And this one's more dangerous than the last. He idolized the first one, and got his start in a Philly gang as a low-level criminal—but after two weeks of it, he snapped. He was a crazy fighter, and he picked off the gang's leaders one by one, including the boss. Then he took the position for himself. He had every quality a leader should, so he decided to come here just like his hero did and raise hell. He wanted to do what he felt his predecessor could've, so he branched out to terrorism. His actual attacks haven't happened yet, but that's only because he's waiting for a ripe enough opportunity to pull one off.

He can withstand extended amounts of pain, and even started using tommy guns ever since he got the top spot. Just like the old X."

"I assume he did not simply move his operations immediately. He must have reestablished his forces before making himself known." Rudra pointed out, speaking up. Rudra was funny like that. When it came to business, she'd (mostly) not hesitate to speak her mind regarding factors of the task, but in casual situations, she was either heavily withdrawn altogether, or socially awkward when engaged into a conversation. Especially when she was asked a personal question like her favorite color or movie. She'd blush, stutter a little bit, and had a slight problem keeping eye contact with the person. Her vocabulary also seemed to regress back to dated speech, dropping contractions and using older terms when it came to those who she didn't have a solid friendship with. Rudra was a special type of shy, it seemed.

"You're right. He's got some new members lined up, and these are what I was able to get." He pressed a red, arrow shaped button on the remote, and a new face appeared on the screen in place of the new Mr. X. Like him, this man was also showing signs of age, but unlike the crime boss, he had a full, yet somewhat neat, brown lumberjack-style beard, and bushy mustache to accompany it. The man donned a sleeveless two-piece brown leather combat suit, and black steel-toed boots. Slightly protruding brown armour-like extensions sat on his chest and shoulders.

"Shave much?" Electra muttered crinkling her nose in disgust and leaning back some in her seat with a little shudder.

" _You're_ not into a dude with facial hair?" Tina asked, turning slightly to give Elle a skeptical look. "Since when? You've always found Max attractive."

Max grinned and laughed, briefly rubbing a hand across his prickly chin stubble. It was starting to grow back a little longer than he generally liked, but nothing to extreme. The wrestler had an only slightly disheveled head of dark hair, and stubble that would grow to go with it, sometimes even thinly extend to the sides of his face. Though he did be sure to keep that part of his face shaved.

"That's different. He keeps it neat," Electra responded, letting her eyes linger on Max's ruggedly handsome face, and not missing a chance to ogle his impossibly jacked topless form either. "Having facial hair is one thing, but you don't have to look like a wild animal about it."

"Anyway," Murphy cut in, rolling his eyes. "His name is Ivan Petrov. He was captured in the war between Russia and Ukraine. He was a good man, until Mr. X offered to bust him out for his help. He knew Petrov would get people dead, which is why he had to bribe the son of a bitch with 50000 grand."

"God," Blaze breathed, almost furrowing in surprise. She was surprised that it would take that amount of money to persuade Petrov to join his ranks, but was unsurprised that Mr. X would have this amount of money at his disposal. Money talked, alright—she knew that better than anyone. "What's he even capable of?"

" _Precognition_. He's also got superhuman senses, and superhuman reflexes." Murphy said, turning to look at her, but speaking to the entire group just the same.

"Ouch," Axel said, now frowning deeply.

"Exactly," Murphy countered, not breaking his stare on Blaze. "He's a dangerous one. Don't take him lightly."

Murphy's gaze at the red-clad brunette was far from random or unjustified. He knew Blaze. Knew that she always took on the role of the leader when she was in a group with others. Be it on her days on the force, or from their last battle against the Syndicate. He didn't want anything happening to her—her leadership skills were too valuable, especially now. He did not think that they would be doomed or unable to function without Blaze to act as their leader out on the streets, not by a long shot. They were all highly competent individuals and could likely do the job even if they _had_ —God forbid—lost her to the living, breathing filth that Neo Chaos would unleash. He just felt that with her natural leadership skills, things would be assured to go smoother, especially in more complicated situations.

"I never do, not with these kinds." Blaze returned, frowning out of pensiveness, which Murphy caught onto.

"I know." Murphy said with a slight decline of the head. "Why I keep you around." Blaze wasn't quite sure if a joking undertone lined the reply or not. She made a slight face.

"So this guy's seen combat, huh?" Max had a smile as he cracked his knuckles just by balling his fists tight enough. "He'll be fun." He could tell that Melanie was feeling similarly, judging by her grin. Max couldn't see it, but she'd began bouncing her right leg.

"Totally! I need to fight him, like, pronto! He's pretty much a super soldier!"

"Which is only part of the reason you need to watch your ass around him and make sure he dies," Murphy snapped, aggravated by what he perceived to be Melanie's lack of severity. _Damn kid. Max isn't much better._ The brunet cop thought bitterly.

"Next one. You'll find this one interesting," Murphy said simply, hitting the button again, the action shifting the image to a man that they all were familiar with. He had a shaved head, save for a tiny tuft of ponytail in the back, pointed goatee, and tan suit. "Yep, it's Hawk. Finally decided to show his true colours. He was corrupt all along."

"Knew there was something I didn't like about him," Blaze snarled, speaking for the whole room. Hawk was the head of his own company—H-Corp, an organization that supposedly graced the public with acts of generosity such as building new structures that would 'help' Wood Oak City. In truth, Hawk just wanted the city to himself, and had things built that would benefit only him. His additions to the city had to have more than a few buildings torn down to accommodate them, including a school and a church. "So how'd he get into business with Mr. X?"

Murphy gave a scoff, glaring at Hawk's on-screen visage. Partly in sour amusement at the wording of Blaze's question, and partly in appalment at Hawk's involvement with the leader of a terrorist organization.

"I think working _for_ X is more like it. He apparently left his business behind to work as just one of the ones near the top rank, not in any kind of partnership."

"What would he get out of that?" Karl asked, shrugging his narrow shoulders. "He was one of the city's top businessmen. A _corrupt_ one, but. . ."

"Princess here is right," Shiva stated abrasively, causing Karl to melancholily shift his gaze downward. Shiva's remark earned him a calmly cold glare from Salvo which he ignored. "Only an idiot would give up that kind of position to work under someone."

"What of H-Corp?" Zan enquired.

"His brother runs it now. Apparently he still loved his company enough to make sure it didn't go under." Murphy supplied.

"So what does that mean for his business? Does it go legit?" Skate asked rhetorically. It was the type of rhetorical question that was intelligent, not redundant.

"Only if his brother wants to help undo the crap he's done, so here's hoping," Tina replied with a little sigh and shrug. "But I guess an alcoholic won't be too hard to take down. If we can't kill him, his little habit will end up doing it for us."

Murphy sniffed in mild amusement in response to her little quip, with Max, Skate, Blaze, and a few others laughing alternatively.

"I thought so too until I found out he was a mutant," Murphy stated, causing the whole room to point shocked looks his way. "One of the effects of his mutation gives his immune system the boost it needs to brush off things like risks of alcohol poisoning. It also gives him an extended lifespan."

 _Which he was happy about, I'm sure,_ Murphy thought acidly. _More time to screw innocent people and the city over_.

"Even at his age?" Zan questioned, before letting out a little grunt-like noise of interest. "His mutation must be strong."

Murphy eyed Zan suspiciously. Something in the doctor's tone did not sit right with him. He seemed far too fascinated in Hawk's genetics, and Murphy knew as well as anyone that Zan was no spring chicken, and that even with his many cyborg parts, he was bound to die of age someday, even if he could live longer than most because of said components. Murphy was beginning to think that Zan might approach Hawk for a sample of his blood, to gene splice—something, in a desperate attempt to keep living. And knowing Hawk, he'd want something in return. Murphy feared that would be his loyalty. Not that he wouldn't be willing to if it came down to it, but Murphy didn't want to go up against Gilbert Zan. The man was a tactical expert, having served in a nasty war in his youth for five years, and that was _before_ he'd become a cyborg with electricity powers and Max Thunder-levels of super strength.

"What are his other mutant powers," Blaze asked. Rudra listened for the answer. She wouldn't say anything, but she was interested in knowing, too.

"He's got a pair of giant hawk wings that shoot out of his back. He can also turn intangible and invisible." Murphy said.

" _God_ ," Adam breathed, still blown away. He ran a hand through his spiky black hair. "I just can't get over the fact that one of the top business moguls isn't even human."

"He must've thought that he'd lose sway if it got out," Max added, then with a genuinely and rightfully confused frown, said, "For whatever reason. This city's seen crazier things so I don't know why he'd be inclined to lie about his real race."

"Exactly! Most of us here are pretty much on some level of superhumanity!" Melanie pointed out, widely gesturing to the table to help accentuate her point.

"Guess even dirty tycoons're self-conscious." Salvo smiled, shaking her head amusedly.

"Self-conscious mutant or not, he's still handsome for a guy in his 50's." Electra declared huskily, earning her a glare from Murphy. She met his gaze and frowned indignantly.

"What? I'm allowed to look. What, think I'd double cross you for what he's got in his pants?" She demanded sharply, the question aimed directly at Murphy, no one else.

There was a short silence as Murphy's reached for the remote, which he'd since sat down on a file cabinet, preparing to click to the next slide and move on. That was Electra's answer right there. She opened her mouth in hopes of setting him straight, but shut it just as quickly, knowing his stubbornness would prevent him from believing her. Electra instead silently fumed, flaring her nostrils involuntarily. A small tension came about the room, but dispersed as Murphy hit the next button. Axel, Blaze, Adam, Skate, and Melanie all wore surprised expressions upon seeing the next face on screen, and while they were obviously of varying degrees, the shock clearly hit the latter two the fiercest, with Melanie and Skate quickly trading a floored glance at one another.

"Son of a bitch!" Skate yelled angrily, now sure of how he felt about this particular member of Neo Chaos.

"I can't believe it!" Melanie said at equal volume. "Fucking Roach!" She pushed herself out of the chair with her hands, as they now rested on the table. The action was done as if Melanie was hard of sight and needed a closer look.

The male on screen, Roach, had short, blonde hair, black sunglasses, black lipstick, and a dark, ugly mole on the lower left side of his face, which only added to his hideous appearance. He wore a yellow vest with blue and red zigzag patterns along the edges of the outfit, with a black tank top underneath. The others at the table who didn't recognize him had all taken notice of the fact that he looked like he couldn't have been more than 19.

"Did he bully you guys, or something?" Karl asked.

"Yeah, he went to school with us," Melanie informed. "He always started shit with us, and we'd always kick his ass.

"But the worst thing this freak tried to do was shoot up our school on the last day of our junior year. Heard him yelling down the hall how there was gonna blood everywhere. Before he could get any shots off, we knocked him out." Skate supplied. "Then he was dragged off to prison."

"I saw to that personally," Adam said, and then indicated himself, Axel, and Blaze. "All three of us did."

"Thank God," Murphy sighed, shaking his head, remembering the incident, and how bad it could've been. He resumed then briefing. "It says here that X got him out in exchange for his loyalty. He's psychopathic, and has an affinity for guns."

"Info's accurate. He's always going on about how he loves hollow-point bullets the most since they have a better chance of obliterating a person's head rather than leaving a clean bullet hole." Melanie responded.

"This kid really _is_ sick," Tina said with a grimace. "I remember Axel telling me about it, even how he was only 18, but I had no idea he was that bad."

Rudra's observing eyes drifted from face to face as others began talking, and she clearly heard and understood them. Despite this, her mind was elsewhere . At the first mention of a school shooting, her thoughts began to wander to scary places. Rudra had a six year-old sister named Emiko, her only family left and the most valuable thing in Rudra's life. Had that shooter decided to target her sister's elementary school. . .

Rudra's heartbeat sped up, pounding at jackhammer speeds at the mere thought. Finding young, fragile Emiko in a body bag after such a situation would have destroyed Rudra. And it was more than capable of happening, as not every school had a duo of kids in it to help save potential would-be victims. Rudra would have done anything for her sister—she went undercover as an assassin for the first Mr. X (who had captured Emiko) just to rescue her. Anything happening to her was the only thing that Rudra feared, but the ninja's perfectly stoic face cleverly showed otherwise, as she simply retained a focused look ahead at her allies, who were completely unaware of the feelings stewing within her at the moment.

"I was kind of enjoying never having to see him again." Skate growled irritably in response to something Max had said, not necessarily mad at him but at the circumstances. Melanie laid a hand on her friend's shoulder and positively smiled.

"Hey, look at it this way, now we can finally go balls out and put him down. We couldn't do that when we were in school. Besides, I'm sure you kinda missed stomping his ass, too," The teenage tomboy finished with a wink.

Skate, now less incensed, felt a wave of something snuff out about half the anger he'd been feeling. Melanie had a point.

"Yeah, I kinda do miss beating him up," Skate admitted in a shameful-sounding way, but Melanie knew he was feeling anything but.

" _See_?!" Melanie laughed, cheerfully slapping her best friend on the shoulder. "You _know_ you wanna kick his ass! Make the best of it while you can!"

"You can always dig out a silver lining, can't you?" Murphy scoffed critically, crossing his arms. Melanie turned to him, and her smile faded, becoming a neutral look. Murphy's tone was not lost on her, yet she kept her own tone unaggressive, yet decisive all the same.

"Yeah. Guess it's just easy for me to see the glass as half full. Life's too short to be a pessimist, anyway." She shrugged.

"Hmph. More like a realist," Murphy scoffed again, shaking his head. "Anyway, that's all I was able to get from their database. Everything else was encrypted to tightly."

"That's still impressive, though. I can't imagine a terrorist organization's info bank being that easy to get into at all." Salvo said with a slight frown. She hadn't really wanted to praise him, due to his treatment of Zan—which she'd caught (not to mention of Elle)—but Salvo always found herself giving credit where it was due. She was just that nice, she supposed.

"Thanks. It wasn't. And our first move won't be that easy, either. Not against terrorists."

"What's that?" Axel asked, slightly raising an eyebrow. Murphy jabbed a button on the remote and switched the giant monitor to sleep mode.

"When I found Hawk on these files, I was suspicious of his company's possible involvement in this. Five of you are going to investigate that," Murphy looked to Blaze. "You're a necessity for this one, Blaze. Use those leadership skills."

Blaze nodded. "Got it."

"Axel, Adam, Melanie and Karl—I want you guys out there, too."

Murphy's command was met with nods from the selected vigilantes. Some anxiety conjured up inside Karl at having to work alongside Axel. The German's eyes visibly widened with worry and once again lowered to study the surface of the table below him. His nod was meek.

Though of course, Melanie's was far more eager.

"Sweet! Time to stomp some terrorist ass!" She said energetically, slapping her hand down on the table and leaping to her feet.

"Right after this," Karl added with a strangely sudden smirk, rising from his seat as well, albeit in a much less loud fashion. He internally activated his transformation, casing paper thin strips of dark green and black metal to wrap out from within various areas of his body, sliding out through the pores of his soft skin and through the utterly microscopic holes in his shirt, sneakers and pants. Already fused with him, the metal began to quickly build itself around him while thickening and expanding. Torso, limbs, everything was soon covered by durable metal, including his face and head, which was wrapped in a tight black metal that matched the shape of his skull, only blockier due to obviously being machine. By the time the transformation finished, the German was now slightly bulkier, black with bits of dark green highlighting the outer arms and legs, part of the chest area in a pointed 'Y'-ish shape, elbows, knees and in an inverse arrow pattern cross each of his metal boots. Before the group stood a new man. He was no longer the wiry and effeminate Karl Haupstein—he was Dreadnought.

" _ **Now** we're ready._ " Dreadnought fully smirked behind his faceplate, his voice now deep, heavily distorted, and robotic sounding. It reverberated, while still carrying that touch of German in his voice.

"Well you at least sound semi-threatening now," Shiva snorted maliciously. "It's a small start."

" _If you want to fight me, Shiva, I'll be glad to take any challenge of yours later. But now, I have a job to do_." Dreadnought retorted with an air of finality. The others were somewhat used to this change in personality from Dreadnought to Karl, but some still couldn't help but to still be completely disoriented. Karl wouldn't have came back at Shiva quite like that, but Dreadnaught had no qualms doing so. To anyone who didn't know it was really him underneath all of that metal, it would have seemed like an entirely different person.

"Please, _Haupstein_ ," Shiva chuckled, calm as ever. "My fists can tear through that layer of junk you're wearing like wet tissue. The only reason it survived that fight back at X's tower was because I was focusing most of my attention on Stone."

Axel focused a heated glare Shiva's way, which the Japanese martial artist countered with a cool and challenging smirk. Murphy interrupted, tossing four comms at the human vigilantes that he'd chosen (Dreadnought had one build into his systems).

" _It's **Dreadnaught**_." The German cyborg intoned menacingly, glaring at Shiva through his opaque and featureless faceplate. Shiva scoffed.

"You'll need these first. And be careful. These guys do more than just terrorism, regular crime as well, so you'll see more of them out there," Murphy said, before sourly addressing Axel's rival. "Crime and terrorist activity in one. Neo Chaos intense enough for you, Shiva?"

"I'm sure _you'd_ think so, Murphy," Shiva said smiling slightly, yet speaking calm and somehow hard. "But I'll be damned if I don't paint those streets with their blood."

"You'd better," Murphy replied evenly. He turned and addressed the group. "Don't let a single one of these bastards live. They've got ways of picking up information from you and tracking you back here, especially with the knowledge they've dug up from the Syndicate remains. That's why I had to find this place for us to stay in. They know where we all live."

"I would say they need to learn some manners about poking into others' business," Electra grinned after looking thoughtful, finding it a bit ironic, but not, all at the same time. "But we're doing the same thing, now aren't we?"

Adam, knowing it was a joke, winningly grinned along with her. "That rule doesn't apply to us heroes. You can teach them that you don't get to get away with terrorism shit on our watch instead."

"You just read my mind, sexy," Electra said, puckering her full lips out at Adam, giving him a 'kiss' for the road.

Blaze shook her head amusedly and addressed Murphy with a serious smile. "We'll check it out."

* * *

 **A/N** : And that's another issue down.

Actually, this was gonna be WAY longer, but too long, so it was ultimately split up. With all of the talking out of the way, the next issue jumps right into the action—for the first half of the chapter, that is. For the second half of issue #3, you get some drama with the characters. Yep.

Until next time,

- _ **Stefan422**_

 _P.S: For those of you wondering, no, Karl isn't gay, and his transformation scene was amazingly fun to write :)_


	3. Chapter 3

**Walking the Streets of Rage**

 **Issue #3: Hunting the Hawk**

The small group of five made their way down the now night swept and empty streets, bypassing neonlit store signs and billboards. Wood Oak had a certain quality at it during the night, tended to be where a lot of the fun took place, and while said fun wasn't nonexistent by any means during the day, it seemed like certain crowds were drawn out during the night, and it was not without reason. Music from unknown sources could be heard blasting in the distance, night bars and raunchy clubs opened their doors. For some, Wood Oak City, was at its best when the allure of the night fell down upon them and wrapped them in its essence.

For Blaze, the night was pretty nice. She found herself going out to The Pine Pot or Blue Island Bar for drinks with Adam, Max, Axel and Salvo at times, and she did like hitting the clubs (the _clean_ ones—she wasn't into the more risque ones, those were more Elle's thing), but she just as much tended to enjoy a night in watching her recorded _Modern Family_ episodes that she'd missed. She was just as content with that as going out. Especially when it rained, and even when it didn't.

But recently Blaze found herself on vigilante missions during times of the night, and that's mainly when they ever did them—at night. It wasn't without reason, as while crime did happen frequently during the day as well during these times, the night was the more popular choice for more criminals to crawl out of the shadows and raise hell.

The lead brunette had been walking along with her friends when they'd all heard Murphy's voice crackle over the comm. They'd only just started, but so far they'd found nothing, no punks to beat up and nothing particularly relating to H-Corp, so they were able to listen with their full attention.

" _Christine's working late, a riot broke out on 10th, but she says she'll be in the air for you guys when she gets off._ "

"Hey, tell her thanks for covering my shift," Adam held down the top button on his comm link. "That really should have been me."

When Christine heard from Murphy that he was regathering the vigilantes and thwarting Neo Chaos, she instantly volunteered to take on some of Adam's assignments, as he still worked there. They'd been working together for about two months now after she'd been moved from Murphy's precinct to Adam's, and had become good enough friends by this point.

" _I'll give her the message. In the meantime just try to stay alive, alright, Hunter?_ " Murphy said, again, with that underlying smirk beneath the sternness in his voice, indicating a joke. Adam chuckled.

"I don't plan on dying anytime soon on these streets," Adam replied in his usual confident and self-assured manner.

" _Good_ ," He replied, the seriousness back in full. " _This shouldn't be too big of a thing, so I won't be in your ear._ "

"Got it, Murphy," Blaze answered. "We'll come back with something." She released the button on her comm, and the feed went silent, signifying that Murphy had gone back to his task, looking for information down in their underground base by his own methods.

"So what do we start with?" Axel asked Blaze, his ever-serious expression seemingly hardened even further with the actual task. "Beating it out of them here, or go searching for their safehouses?"

"Here," The brunette replied after a moment of thought. "This city's already crawling with them, no need to go after them in groups when they're already likely to do that on the streets."

"I see what you mean," Axel agreed, clenching his fists to crack his knuckles, not out of anger, yet. His muscles bulged at the motion, clearly visible through his short-sleeve T-shirt, white in colour.

" _If you want, I can run over and check for the safehouses while you guys get what you can out of the thugs here,_ " Dreadnought proposed, taking out dual World War II German officer swords from vertically-lined sheaths on his back. Their extraordinarily durable blades had a gentle curve to them, along with looped handles, and were of Dreadnought's own creation.

"I don't thin— _Look out_!" Blaze was now yelling, having cut herself off upon spotting a sniper that had suddenly appeared in the window of a building above. He'd been aiming right at them, and would've put a 7.62 inch bullet right between Blaze's eyes, had she not rolled out of the way. The others wisely did likewise, not wanting to get hit by a rebound.

Blaze snarled at him. They'd all seen him come in the window, she just happened to be the one to out him. And she'd be the one to take care of him. Summoning her plasma energy, she thrust her right palm at the sniper, who would have shot a second time if Blaze's projectile hadn't _exploded_ him upon direct impact. Some of the surrounding brick from the window edges also got taken out, but the sniper's remains—limply hanging ropes of intestines, dripping blood and splashes of organ—were more prominent, for obvious reasons.

Blaze only had time to aim her vision to the house the sniper had been in—only to snap it back forward as thugs appeared out of what seemed like nowhere, stalking out of alleys.

"Looks like that drew out the welcoming committee," Melanie remarked, her smile getting wider as their numbers increased. She assumed her fighting stance, and started bouncing lightly from side to side. "Oh, let's _go_!"

"Dreadnaught, Adam, change of plans. There could be more in there. Check it out and come back when you're done." That was Blaze.

"Got it, we'll be back." Adam said as Dreadnought sped into the abandoned looking two-story house at super speed. He followed behind at a much more human speed.

By now, about 20 thugs had arrived, prompting the heroes to engage. They rushed forward on, the attack. A knife-wielding goon slashed downward at Blaze, who easily sidestepped the telegraphed strike and threw out a reverse roundhouse kick that caught him in the back of the skull, dazing him. Snapping her head to the right, she saw two more charging toward her, each wielding dangerous looking assault rifles. They squeezed down on their triggers, but Blaze was once again too quick, and sidestepped the automatic gunfire while dashing to meet them. When she felt she was close enough, she dove into a roll and seamlessly came up in an Embuyaku, killing one of them on impact and sending him flying. He landed unceremoniously onto the brick pavement. The other drew back his gun, intending to ram the butt of it into her head at close range, but Blaze's own speed was superior to that of the thugs, and her kick met his gut first, doubling him over. He wheezed in agony, flecking dark blood onto the pavement. Blaze jumped and gracefully brought her powerful leg up around her head in a half-spin and sent it crashing down onto his skull, finally sending him crumpling to the pavement in a dead heap.

Blaze turned to see the first goon rise, not even bothering with his weapon as murder flared in his eyes.

" _Die, bitch_!" He roared, running toward her in a hot fury. The heroine readied for him, advancing with fists raised. Before they could clash, however, the goon was cut clean across at the midsection by a dark green blur, spraying blood. Dreadnought. Blaze came to a sudden stop, and briefly looked to her right to see Adam nailing a punk with a leaping kick.

"All clear?" Blaze asked, fighting again and nearly taking a punch that instead went parried.

"Yeah, there was just the one guy, we checked." Was Adam's response, ducking under a punch and coming back with several strong ones of his own, downing the goon. A female punk swung down at him at an angle with a wooden bat, but Adam's boot had already collided with her face in a round kick. Hard. The previous man had gotten up and was bleeding rapidly from his broken nose, but nonetheless ran at Adam with a crowbar he'd located, with the female punk running up to him from his left, having stumbled back from his previous kick. Knowing that all options weren't off the table, Adam leapt straight up into the air and kicked out with both feet, successfully catching both criminals across the forehead, sending their battered corpses tumbling to the ground.

Dreadnaught swung his left sabre at neck level, beheading two goons at once at the blink of an eye, their severed heads bearing blank expressions as they rolled along slightly. Three lead pipe wielding thugs advanced, but were cut down before they could register that Dreadnought even saw them. Blood sprayed, though not deterring the goons that now stood to his right.

" _Verdammt verbrechers,_ " Dreadnought muttered, knowing it sounded loud to them, which was fine. He wanted them to hear him. " _I won't let you tear apart this city_!"

The two were killed at a speed far faster than lightning. Their own blood splattered across the top portion of their severed bodies. Dreadnought surveyed the area, and saw that there were no more living pawns in the area. He looked to his leader, who had began talking, specifically to him.

"I had that guy back there, but thanks," She said earnestly, giving him a serious smile. Dreadnought smiled as well, and nodded in acknowledgment. Blaze's expression reverted back to full seriousness as she continued talking, now to everyone.

"There were a bunch of them just waiting for us, it seemed. . ." She trailed off in thought, before snapping her gaze to Axel. "Your sister!"

Axel grimly nodded, knowing where she was getting at. "Those 'odd looks', yeah. Neo Chaos knows who she is, so those people who saw her were innocent, but they probably let it slip to some goons without even knowing it."

" _Like you guys said earlier, it's not too uncommon for things like a girl with a sword and bow across her back to be walking down the street in this city. But then again, it could've come up in a casual conversation._ " Dreadnought said.

"And one _these_ guys could've overheard," Adam added, motioning at a bloodied, but whole corpse. He shook his head. "Dammit, it all makes sense."

"And it doesn't help that none of these guys would give up any information, either," Axel frowned deeply. He and the others had all tried at different points, but ultimately could not get the terrorists to reveal anything to them. The fight alone had built up some rage within him, but their inability to wrench anything out of the criminals before killing them only succeeded in incensing him further.

 _Guess they'd rather die than tell us what they know about H-Corp._ Axel thought, retaining his frown. _This is gonna be tough._

Melanie, still buzzing with adrenaline from the fight, put forth an idea. "We've seen these guys in stranger places, why not check the rooftops?"

"Good idea," Blaze said, gazing upwards, and straining her hearing in attempt to pick up movement. She found none at the moment, but instead lowered her vision to the splintered and wide-open door that Adam and Dreadnaught had been in. She turned to Adam. "Is there a chute up there we can get up there to?"

Adam grinned. "Yep. Looks like we're going up," With his smile still intact, he nodded to Dreadnought. "See you up top. And don't be afraid to start without us."

" _Believe me, I won't._ " The German cyborg laughed genuinely before returning his sabres to their sheaths and running up the building façade immediately afterwards. He curled his metal covered fingers around the squared edge and hoisted himself up onto the rooftop, disappearing from sight.

Blaze motioned toward the door with her head, and ran in. The others easily acknowledged the prompt and followed. . .only to see an unfamiliar man, a thug, loose a crazed-sounding yell while leaping out at Blaze. He'd hidden himself well, and Blaze hadn't seen him until it was too late, till she'd already been tackled at the waist.

The sight unsettled the other vigilantes, yet they knew Blaze could handle herself and instead stood by the windows to block any more from coming at Adam's instruction, the hero having insisted that the new thug must've gotten in through that way. Blaze had gotten the upper hand, and yelled at him, demanding information, which was only met with defiant screams and more attacks. She Judo threw him into a rickety wooden coffee table, which did him in.

"Christ," Blaze said, briefly rubbing the back of her head, which had been slammed into the old wooden floor twice by the thug in attempt to kill her. She had three shallow cuts along the side of her face.

"What happened? He _scratch_ you?" Melanie asked curiously. Axel raised an eyebrow at the cuts as well, assuming the same thing. He noticed they went in parallel lines.

"He had these gloves that had claws replacing the fingers," She explained shortly with a roll of her left wrist. She frowned at her second failed attempt to get information. "They're making us work for this intel. We should get up to the roof."

Not long after, they'd reached the hatch located in the ceiling and were one by one cautiously climbing up the weak, wooden ladder. Blaze leapt onto the grimy, yet spacious rooftop, followed by the others. She looked to her right and saw Dreadnought facing down barefooted and black-garbed ninjas, wielding ninjatos and crossbows, with the occasional P-Series drone, to Blaze's mild surprise. They were the same ones that the deceased Mr. X used against them.

Dreadnought had taken a some punishment from his steadily growing number of adversaries, but his armour, reflexes, and speed kept him from finding himself in too bad a situation.

"Sweet, P-Series robots!" That was Melanie, who'd looked to the rooftop left of them. Her bright green eyes shone—even in the night—with excitement. "I missed beating the crap out of them!"

"And ninjas," Axel said, motioning for her to follow him across a plank that connected the rooftops. "Apparently, our new X is taking pages out of the old one's book."

"Hey, you won't see _me_ complaining," Melanie replied, breaking off to the right of the rooftop while Axel took the left. Running, she took a leap, and threw her leg out in a flying kick.

"Get some!" She cried, her first attack meeting the goon's guard. Melanie was faster than he was, though, and in succession to the first strike, span her body for a full-midair sweeping kick. Her foot collided with her opponent's face, causing the goon's nose to instantly splatter blood across his lips and chin. Melanie heard a fat goon lumber his way towards her, prompting her to drop into a crouch and wisely take his legs out with a sweep. She heard his form thud against the surface of the rooftop and span to finish off the first thug with a elbow to the chest followed up by a punch to the same area, slumping him to the ground. Dead.

Melanie, ever grateful that her superior stamina allowed her to fight for extended periods of time without becoming tired, span on the spot to see that the fat thug had clambered his way to his feet, and was approaching her, now with a crowbar in hand. Melanie heard a mechanical _hum_ and the a hydrologic _whoosh_ that she knew to be the hopping of the P-1 drone just behind her. Rolling to the right, she saw the drone hop just beside the crowbar-wielding thug, presumably to get a better shot at her.

Axel roared fiercely as he sent a finishing knee into the weakened ninja's ribcage, his crossbow having been snapped in half as it lay on the ground near them. The ninja coughed thin flecks of blood onto the rooftop surface, sinking to his knees. . .only to be snatched up by the neck by the vigilante.

"Enough fucking with me! _Tell me what you know_!" Axel shouted into the ninja's battered face.

" _Go to Hell_!" The ninja wheezed weakly as his eyelids began to droop. He might have been slipping into unconsciousness, but he was sorely mistaken if he thought he was getting off that easy.

He raised his fist to inflict fatal damage on the grunt's skull. . .

When his fist froze.

Out of his right peripheral, just a few feet from the slew of dead bodies stood a woman. She had long fire-red hair, and donned light grey leggings, and red-orange coat, knee high combat boots, skirt, and hat, the latter of which obscured her eyes. The bill of it did, anyway. Axel could tell by her straight, unmoving posture that she was no ordinary goon on the street. She was a top player. And she was looking at _him_.

Axel threw the unconscious ninja aside and briefly called to Melanie, who'd been nearly finished with her lot.

"I'll be down below," He growled laconically to her, pissed at the situation. "There's something I need to take care of."

Not waiting for Melanie's reply, he ran, and leapt down from the two story rooftop at an angle towards the woman who'd now raised her fist to strike his rapidly descending form. Axel extended his leg at a downwards angle for a devastating dropkick at the same time she struck out at him. Their attacks collided with an audible thudding noise, but that didn't stop the redhead from throwing another punch at him, his form still partially in midair.

"Who are you?" Axel demanded roughly, bringing his arms up to defend against the second straight punch. Now on the ground, he sidestepped a third punch and came back with a high sweeping kick aimed at her head, which sent her staggering slightly. She shook it off quickly and tackled him at the waist before he could follow it up.

The woman instantly began sending powerful punches into Axel's face upon straddling his torso.

"I'm Queen," She grunted, her voice one of a woman in her late 40's. "And you're finished!"

On about the fifth or sixth punch, Axel's arm shot out and seized her wrist. He was no Max Thunder in terms of raw strength, so he wasn't capable of breaking her wrist outright using a single hand—but he could sure as hell dislocate it. And he did.

Queen let out a long grunt in agony, the sudden and sharp pain freezing her for a single moment. However, one moment was all Axel needed to retaliate. He dislodged the woman from him via forceful Judo leg throw. With instant hatred and increasing rage in his blue eyes, he spat out blood before sprinted in the direction of her form, which had now risen and came full speed at him.

Having painfully relocated her wrist, Queen threw more punches and kicks at Axel, that went wisely dodged or blocked.

 _She's gonna tire herself out,_ Axel thought, her boot just brushing his chin. _Stupid ass. I can use it against her, good thing._ He continued to dodge and guard against the unrelenting onslaught of blows, until one particular parry sent her stumbling back. Seeing she was indeed showing telltale signs of fatigue—panting heavily, Axel saw his chance and took it, rushing up to her and performing his _Dragon Smash_ , sending thin streams of blood flying from her with every quick arching punch. He finished with a rising uppercut, that sent her spinning in midair.

" _Queen, that's enough. Come back to headquarters. Now."_ A deep but reserved voice droned slightly, sounding somehow soft, even through the comm lodged in her ear. Queen let out a noise of frustration—something between a growl and a scream, and immediately fled from the fight. Even though it was their first encounter, the idea of the woman fleeing without even putting up a fight came as a surprise to Axel. He gave chase, surmising the voice that he'd heard belonged to the new, dark skinned Mr. X, especially noting how his tone of voice clearly indicated that the matter was not up for discussion.

Axel chased the aggressive woman down the street, around turns and through dark alleyways. Hopping onto roofs of parked cars to get onto a slightly higher ground that protruded from the side of a building, Queen called down to Axel.

"I'm his right hand-woman!" Sweat was now pouring down her own face, a consequence of perpetually staying on the attack during her interrupted fight with her pursuer. She kept her sights on the path ahead after sparing a glance back at Axel, who was a fair distance away. "I would've loved to finish you off, blondie, but _I_ intend to follow my orders!"

Turning into an alleyway, Axel's frown deepened in bitter anticipation upon recognizing the alleyway that they'd gone was a long, dead end one, without a ladder, at that, rendering Queen with no escape.

 _Wrong turn, bitch._ _ **You're**_ _finished._ A heavily panting Axel thought, doing his best to ignore his own growing tiredness. He noticed two things as they bolted down the long, wide, straightaway—that Queen's running speed was apparently decreasing slightly from exhaustion, and the sound of helicopter blades cutting through the air.

" _Axel, I'll try to get her for you,"_ Christine was in his ear. He gave a slight declination of the head, satisfied that the chopper he'd heard was an ally, as opposed to Neo Chaos, or the WOPD.

The next thing that was registered an impossibly quick stream of armour piercing bullets raining down ahead of him, just missing a weaving Queen and effortlessly chipping the bricks of building façades and extensions as they shot past. Seemingly all in a second, bullets tore through her shoulder, right kneecap, left arm and right leg, sending said body parts flying from her body in sprays of red. Nora went down with an unholy shriek, but found the will to send her remaining hand to her ear before hitting the ground, causing her to vanish in a flash of blue light. Right before the end of the alleyway.

Axel stopped, Christine ceasing her fire as well, and steering the helicopter to land on a rooftop, briefly disappearing from sight. The blonde vigilante swore, heatedly staring at the spot at which Queen had disappeared at. He saw her reach for her ear when she went down, and supposed that whatever device she'd had in there—probably her comm—permitted her to warp away so suddenly. He heard numerous sets of footsteps approaching and span to meet the newcomers.

"Axel!" Blaze said, skidding into sight, followed by the others who jogged to meet him. Due to having just finished running several blocks after Queen, he strolled to them at a much slower pace, hands shoved in pockets.

"Melanie said you went off to fight a high ranker. I'm. . .assuming it went well?" Blaze asked, her voice carrying a puzzled undertone as she eyed the lacerated pieces of Queen, failing to find the rest of her.

"Yeah. She teleported away." Axel said, angry at himself that he couldn't have finished her off.

"Well, don't sweat it," She assured, sensing the exact intensity of his rage. "We got what we came for. We'll see her again."

Axel nodded, feeling a little less angry, now, knowing that they'd ultimately accomplished their task. He could tell from looking at Blaze's expression that she was glad that he'd taken the course of action that he did. Had Axel waited to take on Queen, she likely would have gotten impatient and stormed up to engage them, something that would have ended with the team suffering far more injuries. The low-level thugs on the roof were enough, but if Queen were to enter the equation, the fight would have been that much more difficult.

"What'd they tell you?" He asked, truly feeling less angered now.

"The would-be advisor to Hawk's brother is meeting him tomorrow night at nine. Hawk supposedly wants to see for himself if he's capable of helping his brother make the right decisions for his company."

"Where?"

"20th. Underneath the decommissioned train station where they're sure to be alone."

Axel frowned and gave a little shake of his head. "Of course they'd pick the one on 20th, it's like going through a maze just to get there. And that's all the more leverage X's thugs can use against us."

"Don't worry about that part of it," Blaze assured with a small smile. "I've got an idea, but you'll hear about it when we get back to Murphy."

" _I'll meet you guys back at the base after I properly put this bird in its nest."_ Christine informed through their comm channel. Blaze frowned, unsettled by the idea of the WOPD possibly getting their slimy hands on such a powerful vessel.

The armoured chopper that Christine piloted was formerly a Syndicate one, and an impossibly _huge_ one at that—even capable of transporting all of the vigilantes at once (Murphy included), and still having adequate room for an all-out fight with a good number of thugs. The Syndicate had been full of helicopters this size, and the entire fleet had been wiped out with the base of the organization's demolition. Or so they thought. Now the WOPD had utilized it for its own purposes, and they'd even painted its logo over the dismantled Syndicate's own insignia—an act that symbolized change. When it was first salvaged from the wreckage that was once the Syndicate's HQ and re-emblazoned, Blaze's heart warmed. To her, the mere act of painting over a logo didn't symbolize change on its own, but the fact that a former piece of weaponry used for evil was being used for a good purpose. _That_ is what brought a genuine smile to the brunette's face. Even looking at it now reminded her of that feeling of change and reformation for the better.

At least it used to.

Seeing it now made her apprehensive and wary—for obvious reasons.

"That doesn't sound like the best idea to me, Christine," Blaze told the officer, who was still perched on the roof in the massive helicopter. "Aren't you concerned that the WOPD will use it against us?"

" _Don't worry," Christine replied with a little chuckle. "Murphy already took care of it. He hacked the electric lock, and gave me the only key to bypass it. I'm the only cop that gets in this thing."_

That made Blaze feel a little bit better. She did come to the lingering concern of them cornering Christine about the issue of her somehow being the only cop to get into the helicopter, but Blaze trusted her ability to lie for them and keep their cover by any and all means.

"Alright, Christine," Blaze said after a thoughtful pause. "Tell Murphy that we've got intel for him, and that we're on our way back."

" _Got it. See you down below."_ The cop answered. Soon after, the five vigilantes heard massive helicopter blades begin to noisily slice the air, signifying its prepared takeoff. With their air support on her way back to the WOPD to drop off their helicopter, the five headed back the way they came to report back to their leader, their first of many missions completed.

"So how did you know that that was a high-ranking member down here, Melanie?" Adam asked with a wry smile, half knowing the answer, but asking anyway.

Melanie smiled, a guilty-but-proud one, grin, to be exact. "Snuck a peek down at Axel when I got a minute," Her expression went from positive to annoyed suddenly. Annoyed at Queen's fighting habits. "And I saw that there's a dumbass born every minute. _Everybody_ knows that offense doesn't amount to shit without a good defense! She just kept punching like a woman with no sense!"

Axel shook his head with a frown, easily recalling the woman's behavior. "Yeah. Name's Queen. She's X's right hand woman."

"To Mr. X's 'king'," Adam likened, harrumphing lightly. The insightful comment sent an odd feeling of irony of the connections that ran through the heroes.

" _Sounds like a second Shiva to me,_ " Dreadnought grunted hatefully. He could just begin to make out the sound of an indefinable rap song play in the far distance somewhere.

"She would, but she's nowhere near as smart as he is in a fight." Axel responded.

"At least we've got that on our side," Adam smiled, joking lightly and sounding confident. "If she's as reckless as you say then she's bound to hand herself over on a platter. It's about time we've gotten an easy high-ranking goon."

"I still won't put anything past her. I haven't even _seen_ her. . .well, beyond what was left of her in that alleyway, I guess. But at the very least I know what a _genius_ she is." Blaze said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

"Nine PM, huh?" A pensive Murphy wondered aloud in response to what he'd been told, as he sat in his chair, idly rolling a pen between his fingers. H-Corp was increasingly appearing to have a connection to the Neo Chaos organization, and upon receiving this new information, he was eager to confirm it.

The meeting room was now bare, save for himself, Blaze, Axel, Adam, Melanie, Karl and Christine. Everyone else was long gone, having gone to claim rooms for themselves and to further explore the base. The five and Christine would too, but not before concluding this much more important debriefing.

"Yeah. He wants to see if the new advisor for H-Corp is up to the task. They're meeting at the old train station on 20th.

I was thinking of running down there tomorrow to plant cameras so we can get the full conversation. They could have important information that'd be best if we heard." Blaze finished.

"Good thinking. Zan _did_ bring down a bunch of spare computer parts," Murphy said trailing off slightly before suddenly turning his gaze on her. "How big are you talking?"

"Almost microscopically small. Figure I'll stick in about four."

"How quickly can you make them?"

"Fifteen minutes." Blaze said with a proud, but fairly small smirk. "I'd just need you to watch the feed from here tomorrow as we go in. Y'know, to clue us in on what he says to this guy."

"Were you expecting anything different?" Murphy said with a tiny snort and a small but clear joking vibe from him. Blaze grinned. They would need Murphy to relay back to them what was being said, and he was more than ready to do it. They had a plan.

"We're talking Hawk, here, so I'll be aiding you on your way there, too. Mr. X is sure to have put goons leading up to the train station." Murphy said, now fully serious again.

"Since you brought up goons," Axel started in a low voice, some of that anger at his failed kill resurfacing. Murphy leaned in, but at a barely noticeable degree. "I ran into Mr. X's right-hand woman. Queen."

"I shot at her from our chopper, but she teleported before I could land a lethal shot. Those bullets still ripped off her legs and one of her arms, though, so my guess is she'll be out of action for awhile." A still-uniformed Christine reported with an air of satisfaction, sitting up a little straighter. She was a terribly skinny thing with very little muscle. In terms of both vigilante work and the WOPD, she figured the field wasn't the best place for her, so she decided to give support from a distance. And she preferred it, always having been a better pilot than she was a fighter. She helped out where she could, and that made her happy.

"Knew he had more than three on his ranks," Murphy said, utterly unsurprised, but at the same time filled with an angry determination. "I've got more work to do. While you were out I couldn't get any more of their databases. They're hacked tighter than the others."

Murphy blew out a breath. His mind raced with possible villains (and their numbers) that could have been roaming Neo Chaos' headquarters at that very moment, waiting for the chance to spread more Hell on his city. A deep scowl took hold of his face. He knew that someone had to lead them, but at the same time, he wished he could have been on the streets to gun the bastards down himself.

"I know that what we're up against is serious, and that we're all in something deeper than even The Syndicate," Adam began gently after observing his friend, and all of his intense silent hatred, towards Mr. X, Queen and the rest of his members—high and low ranking—, and the organization as a whole. "But don't push yourself too hard over this, alright? Even leaders need their rest."

"Amen to that," Blaze chuckled, jerking her head in Adam's direction, the gesture further expressing her wholehearted agreement.

Murphy's expression lightened a bit. He chose his next words carefully, making sure not to promise anything.

"I'll. . .keep that in mind," He slowly spun back around in his chair, now facing the computer. "Go check out the base. This place is bigger than you think, so there's still a lot of rooms to pick from."

"Sweet!"

In her usual energetic fashion, Melanie slid her chair out, and rose, jogging for the door and calling back ' _I'll see you guys later!_ ' as she exited, eager to fully scope out her new surroundings. In her haste, the girl had forgotten to push her chair back in. Blaze laughed and did it for her, having been seated next to her.

"This place have a bar?" She asked Murphy, who had to think for a second before answering.

"Think it does now. . .Max and Skate went out and bought some booze for the nook down here that may as well be a bar. Max is setting it up."

"Then we'll give him a hand," The brunette declared, smiling, indicating Axel and Adam as well. "Let's hope Max remembered to get the stuff we can all handle." Adam shook his head with a smile, denying her.

"He's considerate, and with everyone here, he'll be sure to _not_ buy truckloads of those strong Scottish beers he likes. Now on a team of just me, Axel and him, it'd probably be a different story."

"He's right," Axel agreed with a tiny smile and chuckle, knowing the his friend, and knowing how his insides must have been made of steel as his outsides were. Figuratively, of course. "He'd do it just to screw with us, telling us how we need to start drinking 'real beer'."

Blaze smiling widely and genuinely, turned to Karl and addressed him. "How about you, Karl? What'll you be up. . ."

When he was unresponsive, Blaze furrowed upon a quick inspection of his expression and body language. His eyes were somewhat wide and unseeing, and his neck was craned downwards, the young man staring at his lap, not moving an inch.

She'd seen this behavior from him several times in the past. She hadn't known what to think of it until Salvo had provided clarification. He was not ignoring her at all, it was the simple fact that he hadn't _heard_ her.

Blaze gently shook Karl's narrow shoulder in attempt to bring him out of his trance-like state, calling his name again.

"H-huh?" Karl stuttered dazedly, his gaze hurriedly focusing on Blaze, who now wore an expression of concern.

"I was asking what you were going to do," Blaze repeated. She watched as his gaze became scattered, rapidly shifting across to the random things in the room; the analog clock above the door, his swords as they hung neatly on the hooks he'd decided to keep them on when not using them, empty chairs, Axel, the tiny remote to the monitor as it sat on the file cabinet, a large-sized, undefinable half drank Wawa coffee of Murphy's, Axel, the large board that was used earlier, Axel, Blaze, Axel.

Axel.

"I-I need to go," He uttered, feeling unpleasantly overwhelmed. He turned and walked at a quickened pace out of the door, leaving the concerned and confused faces behind. He kept up his stride down the main inside corridor, passing closed doors, presumably containing other members of the team. Karl sort of furrowed—but in a sad way as his eyes cast themselves downward as he continued down his path, _really_ hoping he would not run into Max Thunder on the way down either.

* * *

Karl Haupstein found it funny, how RoboCy could give him those Dreadnought implants capable of providing him extra protection (but not invulnerability) against _bullets_ —yet could not do anything for the organ that constantly pained him.

His heart.

The source of consistent pain stemmed from childhood, from when Karl was just a small, harmless child. At the age of five, he'd found great beauty in the rows of flowers the neighbours, and even his own mother had grown. Over the years he'd taken an interest in the works of William Shakespeare, as well as the sport of fencing. Because of things like this, he had gravitated toward the company of girls and women rather than men and boys. These behaviors and preferences caused great anger in his old-fashioned parents, who firmly believed that males and females should exercise their respective gender-stereotyped behaviors, and that anything different was unacceptable.

When they had first noticed his behavior at the young age, they tried to break him out of it and 'set him straight' by strictly punishing him and forcing him to listen to lectures about how 'an effeminate man was no man at all'. Still, Karl continued with pursuing his own preferred interests in secret, all the while lying to his parents about how their teachings had changed him. But his façade fell apart the day his parents caught him singing an opera tune to himself when he thought he was alone. The punishments and lectures continued, until one day, Bernhart and Hildegard Haupstein gave up on trying to change Karl, and instead practically disowned him.

He suffered much emotional abuse from his parents, who scathingly referred to him as an ' _enttäuschung'_ and such names on the rare occasions that they spoke to him at all. Karl was still fed, clothed and given an education, but only due to the fact that Wood Oak City's laws required that they do so to individuals younger than 18. While Karl did not cease his mannerisms and pursuits, his parents cruel treatment had deeply scarred him, and it was made even worse by the fact that he had a brother and a sister that received unconditional love and support from his parents. His brother, Adalbert, was hot-blooded, hairy even in his teens, and downed all of Germany's toughest brews on a regular basis, never accepting any other brand. His sister, Lilly, was a dainty ballet dancer that kept up her appearance frequently, and quite easily. They cared little for Karl as well, remaining indifferent from how their brother was treated as well as regarding him with questioning leers due to his personality. It especially hurt Karl knowing that the issue was not that his parents were _incapable_ of displaying their affection to their kids, just that his parents didn't _want_ to provide him with it. Honestly, he couldn't see why they weren't more open minded. Sure, they were brought up in a different time, but this wasn't then. It was the new reality of modern Lima. It was 2017. Society was naturally changing, and with those changes, large amounts of men were quickly becoming less masculine and even more feminine. This was by all means a good thing, but it was still seen as crisis amongst older and middle-aged people who were brought up in different times.

The exchange in the meeting room had obviously deeply troubled Karl, but for the simple fact that _Axel_ , the type of man his parents would have definitely preferred him to emulate, had been the one to spot and engage Queen. While he didn't succeed in killing her, he was the one to get her to reveal that information pertaining to who she was to Mr. X. Murphy was probably thankful for that, Karl imagined. It had been the story of his life—praise the manly one. It was so _frustrating._ Axel was rough, serious, angry, and decidedly utilized a close-ranged fighting style. He would charge into the fray and throw out hard, deadly blows that made his enemies bleed, letting out grunts and yells of fury as he did so. His parents would have _loved_ him. But what was wrong with being the opposite of that? What was wrong with being non-aggressive in battle and even in general?

And then there was Max Thunder. The professional wrestler. The mere thought of him being someone of such a profession made Karl's aching heart sink. They were more often than not, huge, shirtless titans of men, who grappled fiercely with each other in attempt to force the weaker one into submission. Or at least that's what it seemed like to him. He obviously wasn't into watching such things on TV or in person. He knew there was some actual skill involved, like all styles of fighting, but the sport certainly implored brute strength, what with all of the grabs and throws those hulking men loved to do. Having muscles may have showed others you were physically strong, but you didn't _need_ to be all muscles to be physically strong. Having a slim body shape was just fine, too. But why couldn't his parents _see_ that? Max could keep the strongest beers in the world in his digestive systems, while Brewmeister's _concoctions_ would have Karl running to the toilet, ready to vomit in an instant. So he wasn't looking to receive _alcohol poisoning_ and liked casual brands that contained tolerable amounts of alcohol instead. That was a _bad_ thing?

The German felt conflicted. _He_ was fine with who he was, yet he deeply desired for his parents' approval.

Karl wasn't conflicted about one thing, however. That he was inferior to men such as Axel Stone and Max Thunder.

He quickened his pace upon hearing familiar voices of Tina, Electra, and Salvo. His friends. . .good. . .he needed to talk to someone, someone that would listen. Someone who would _understand._

* * *

He stepped into a common area, which was, as he had expected, populated by the three girls, who had each been sitting on a stool at a bar area that had already been well stocked with liquor and sodas of varying brands. They turned upon hearing the sounds of his footsteps on the smooth grey concrete floor, pausing their conversation to greet him.

Prior to seeing the facial expression of her good friend, Salvo Medaglia had been wearing a happy, laughing smile born of amusement at one of Tina's dry jokes concerning Salvo's own wealth. When the five vigilantes left to investigate, she had approached Zan to make sure her suit was up to code, in the form of repeatedly putting on and taking off her armour to gauge if its activation speed hadn't diminished, which it hadn't, to her satisfaction. The rest of the evening saw her in an outfit she'd normally wear—a form fitting long-sleeved, dark blue shirt, skinny jeans and Nike Runners of the same color. Salvo liked to coordinate colors, especially when it came to her darks. It was for this reason that she always wore either all dark blue casual wear, or all black. This usually prompted Tina to poke fun at her fashion tendencies, calling the Italian a 'closet goth'.

Salvo's visage shifted to a mix of sadness and concern upon catching sight of Karl's sunken expression. She was in the midst of raising a second Yuengling to her lips, but immediately placed the dark bottle back on the surface of the bar, giving Karl her full attention.

"Hey," She greeted sincerely yet somewhat softly, watching him claim the seat between her and Tina. "Max again?"

"Axel," Karl corrected, keeping his gaze downward. Electra, who'd noticed Karl's mood along with Tina, slid from her seat and stepped behind the bar counter, grabbing another Yuengling and giving it to Karl. She received a quiet thanks in Karl's native tongue. A _danke_. The corner of her lips quirked up in an invisible smile, knowing all too well that he and Salvo loved that brand.

"You know you're just as much of a man as he is," Tina supplied encouragingly after clandestinely sighing at the situation. In a way, she saw Axel having more of an effect on Karl's psyche that Max could. The wrestler, at the very least, was outgoing, a nice enough guy, and very in touch with his mental health. Although she imagined that one in his line of work needed to be. Physical upkeep in the wrestling circuit was a given, but attempting to fight with a troubled mind or even clouded thoughts would be setting yourself up to fail. And as Tina had gathered from a behind-the-scenes special, the contractors in Max's circuit weren't happy with any losses, especially those that were the cause of something that could have been prevented.

Axel, on the other hand tended towards being rather concise, and had always had a short fuse. He did talk about his troubles with his family and friends, and that certainly helped put Tina at ease, who often concerned over her brother's mental health. But he was completely stoic, and could come off as annoyed at times when he really wasn't. It was easy to understand why Karl would shy away from him a tad more than he would Max. Tina found her German friend's inferiority complex to be psychologically unhealthy, and while she was concerned about how it would further affect him, she was thankful that he was in touch with his emotions, and open to speak about them.

"But why can't my parents see that?" He asked, his voice distressed-sounding and thick with emotion. He felt horrible memories rushing by his head, playing themselves out within a fraction of a second. He shut his large eyes in frustration and sadness. "Why can't society see it?"

Tina gulped down a large sip of her Sierra Mist, setting the bottle down on the bar with some force. "Fuck society, dude. The general public is stupid. Some people say they don't like my voice, but I say screw 'em."

Tina did have that feminine-sounding hoarseness to her voice, giving the illusion that it was deeper than it actually was. Small, but definitely noticeable to any that heard, Tina did not care what others thought of how she sounded. Many other women had it as well, and if anything, Tina liked that about herself. She claimed that it made her sound badass, and wore it with pride.

Electra noted that Tina's brow slightly lowered in an almost calm agitation at the thought of how stereotypical the public could be even in 2017, and offered some words to help her better understand the situation.

"It's not like society's saying this stuff for no reason. Lima sees its effeminate men as weak because men have always been the ones associated with strength and roughness. When you get a guy like Karl, who's not, the old-fashioned and the outright jerks tend to give their unwanted opinions." She finished.

"Exactly," Karl said, exhaling, albeit feeling significantly better that Electra was able to understand him so well. He was sure that Tina did as well, and was merely giving her brand of advice: don't stop being who you are for the sake of someone else. It was good advice indeed, and Karl was all too willing to continue being what he felt was right. As he has always done. The real task would be getting his parents to accept who that person was, however.

"Not that it matters though," Elle said, crossing her arms and admiring Karl's form—something that didn't go unnoticed by the German himself. Though he didn't mind at all, partly because he wasn't the overly uptight type, but mostly because it did wonders for his self-esteem. And that worked out just fine because Elle just couldn't help herself sometimes. Her eyes would always roam over him, as they did now—witnessing his lithe torso and body shape, the way his clothes clung to his form, his pillowy-looking lips, those enormous, innocent, blue eyes. . .

A bright red blush crept across Karl's face and cheeks upon catching Electra's trailing gaze. Due to his current situation, he could only manage a ghost of a smile. It really was nice to know that Elle found guys like him so wildly attractive, to show as much admiration for him as she would for men with bulging muscles.

Salvo shook her head and chuckled at their friend's shameless ogling. "My God, Elle," She sipped from her bottle afterward.

"Don't blame me!" Electra sniggered. "It's Karl's fault for being so curvy! Any woman with good taste wouldn't be able to keep their eyes off him!"

"I can," Tina smirked. "And he looks just fine to me. You're just a hypersexual."

"And damn proud of it, too," Electra retorted with a cat-like smile and wink.

"Karl, you've got the three women in the room, and millions of others that think you're gorgeous, you and I both know that you can fence better than Edoardo Mangiarotti," Salvo started, with a smile, pearly white, and genuine. She slung a supportive arm around his shoulder. "And the you're one of the top musicians in the world. The charts even say it. You're not a failure."

Karl's semi-smile faded. He could tell that Salvo was being sincere, and he so desperately needed and wanted to believe her words to be true, but everything that had been shoved at him, every insult and memory of a spiteful look, told him otherwise. He gave a deflated-sounding sigh.

"My parents and siblings seem to think so. Even with the opera career."

"Well that doesn't change the fact that you've been doing an awesome job with everything. Your newest CD sold, what, like, 70 billion copies already?" Tina asked, crossing her arms. While she wasn't a fan of opera by any means, she did support Karl's career, and checked the music news for word on how well his latest work sold worldwide. Which was usually extremely high. Not that it was surprising, though. He had the voice of an angel and sang each note with utmost emotion.

He nodded. " _Verloren in der Welt_ is selling way faster than I ever thought it would. It might be my favorite album to date, actually."

His expression went from forlorn to slightly thoughtful at the mention of his music's quality. Perhaps he sang the album's eponymous title with a little too much deepness—well, as deep as his voice could have gone, anyways.

"Your fans still don't seem to think so," Tina said with a smirk. "Ever since you put out. . . _Zer. . .Zert_. . ." She trailed off, unable to recall the name of what had been widely considered his greatest album by his fanbase. Tina furrowed and squinted, snapping her fingers in attempt to remember. "God, what was it called again? The one with the really long title."

" _Zersplitterte Zerbrechlichkeit_ ," Kurt laughed a little, as did Elle and Salvo, possibly moreso. He drank from his bottle. "The name can be a bit much."

"You're damn right, it is," Tina returned with a smile.

"Not for me. I remembered cause I'm a good friend," Salvo teased with a grin, wrapping an arm around Karl and pulling him close.

"That's right," Karl said returning her smile as he kept up the jesting banter, wrapping an arm around her in correspondence. Their eyes briefly met, gazes lingering slightly. Salvo and Karl's words were merely a harmless joke at Tina's expense, but Karl knew that Salvo's declaration of friendship was not. The two of them were inseparable. Whenever Karl desperately needed support, Salvo was there in an instant, all too willing to comfort him as many times as she needed, and even though the reverse scenario almost never occurred, Karl wouldn't give a moment's hesitation to do the same for Salvo. No matter the situation, they would always revel in each other's presence. Together.

Meaning that this closeness predictably spread farther than simply hard times.

They'd laughed together, talked together, and fought alongside one another during the city's first dark spell at the hands of Mr. X. They'd exchanged gifts on Christmas and shared expensive chocolates on Valentine's Day. Every year. They would always watch the New Year's Eve ball drop side-by-side, seated on the Medaglia's expensive couch with Salvo's father and younger brother, and the two never dared to forget one another's birthdays, which were always accompanied with an expensive, along with the respective person's favorite brand of liquor. The group of four that was Tina, Salvo, Elle and Karl were all undoubtedly close to each other, but Salvo and Karl held an impossibly deep platonic love for one another, and even considered each other to be family.

"God, you two are so corny," Tina said with a chuckle. "Get a room already!" The remark got its intended response, with Karl and Salvo immediately laughing,

"I think what our hopelessly unromantic friend is trying to say," Elle began, ignoring a tiny shove from Tina. "is that you two would make an adorable couple. Which you would!" They laughed again, this time softer at the idea of the two of them romantically involved with one another. While they loved each other, they didn't in that way.

"Nah, strictly friends, here, guys, sorry," Salvo smiled, shaking her head. Karl sipped his Yuengling briefly, placing it back on the bar surface afterwards.

"But yes, Tina, you're right. _Zersplitterte Zerbrechlichkeit_ is my most acclaimed song to date." Karl said, returning to the previous topic. He smiled slightly. "I'm glad it turned out as well as it did." His expression faltered slightly, eyes widening a little. "Actually, looking back, I wonder if I should have brought out that last note a little longer. It may have ended a little clipped, and I don't want the whole—"

"Karl, it's _fine_." Electra interrupted with a smile, raising her slim bionic arm to verbally soothe him. "I may lean towards singing R &B as opposed to opera, but it's great inspiration. Don't worry your cute head over it."

Karl laughed softly at Electra's earnest remark, the part regarding his appearance leaving behind a faint red blush across his face, warming it slightly. A second sensation in the form of a silent rumble resonated from within his stomach. Karl himself was even surprised, having not even realized he'd been that hungry.

"What's to eat? I'm starving," Karl laughed, shaking his head.

"I made salt-and-pepper steak for tonight. We're going back to the store tomorrow to get more stuff though. There's no way we've got enough right now to last us the entire fight against X," Salvo chuckled.

"Where is it?"

"Right out that door," Salvo answered, pointing to a door that stood lined up with the barstools the four were sitting on. "Take a short walk down the hall until you see three doors. It's the one on the left. The steak should still be warm, and I made a lot, so take as much as you can eat. Well, not exactly that much," She chuckled.

"Oh I _know_!" Karl smiled. "Besides, I'm rail thin and you make your steaks thick. My stomach wouldn't have been able to hold that much meat if I wanted."

"Sorry," Salvo apologized with a smile, despite knowing it wasn't needed. Karl only proved this to be true by giving her a distaff wave of the hand. He went to slide off of the stool, but was stopped by Tina, whose hand quickly shot out to still him.

"Don't you need to fix your hair first?" She asked with a smile. The comment was dry as a bone, Karl noticed, and thus clearly sarcastic.

A very Tina thing to say after he'd just gotten out of the Dreadnought form.

The implants went through his head as well as the rest of his body, and the microscopic metal strips needed to come out of his head in order to properly wrap itself and form a helmet-like headpiece around his skull. Unfortunately for him, such a thing occurring would ruin his hairstyle, inclining him to fix it as soon as possible afterwards. On the very mission he had just returned from, he had attempted to return it to its regular state using his hands, to no avail.

"It's been bothering me ever since I'd turned back," Karl replied with a wry smile. "I'll be back with my food in a moment." He headed toward the door, feeling Tina give him a single pat on the arm as he passed her. Tina then turned her attention to the fully stocked alcohol supply that faced her. French brands, German brands, Russian, American, China, Italian, Japan, Canada—the list went on. Tina was unsurprised about this, as Lima was an extremely diverse country not at all unlike the United States, which Lima strongly resembled in many ways.

Of course, Tina felt extremely grateful to have been raised in such a place. At a young age her parents had been sure to instill in herself and Axel that differences were good things, and that diversity was something to be cherished. She doubted that she or Axel would've turned out as worse people if their parents hadn't—you ultimately developed your own opinions and view of certain things, Tina felt like—but it was still one of the reasons that Tina loved them. They were good parents, trying to nudge her and her brother in the right direction.

She also knew that there was also a chance that she wouldn't have seen the world in the light that she did, as it definitely had its problems. Tina was fairly cynical in her teens, and her family had often tried to talk Tina into a more realistic mindset, but their words had fallen on deaf ears. She'd lost a great most of her pessimism around the time she turned nineteen, causing Tina to feel better than she'd felt like in years. She felt taller, she walked with more of a purpose, and smiled brighter. Tina grew to hate the bitter girl that she once was, and considered what little cynicism she had left a personality flaw. Still, she had her parents and brother to thank for always preaching to her that there was good in the world, which turned out to be entirely true.

Tina's sharp blue eyes did another once-over of the heavily stocked liquor shelf, stopping briefly on a bottle of Falcon.

"Not that I'm complaining, but this is a lot of beer guys. And how many of these areas did Murphy say were down here?" Tina said with a bemused smile.

Elle snorted at the mention of the name, the one eye of hers not perpetually covered by her mane of hair visibly narrowing with anger.

"Mad about earlier?" Salvo knowingly guessed, leaning her elbow on the bar counter. She drank long from her Yuengling.

"He's an asshole," Elle scornfully replied. "I've been nothing but on his side in the past, and he acts like I'll just switch teams because Hawk happens to look good. Sexy or not, you won't see me turning my back on you guys for anyone along the lines of Neo Chaos."

"I wouldn't call him an asshole for that. We are up against a terrorist organization this time. And he's never doubted you before." Tina reminded.

"I've never expressed my interest in one of our enemies in front of him before." Electra retorted. "Maybe back then it would have been incriminating, but definitely not now. He should know where my loyalties lie by this point. I helped save a goddamn city! Me _and_ Zan!"

"I see your point, and I definitely saw how Murphy looked at Zan earlier," Salvo started, her serene tones completely contrasting Elle's rising anger. "But Tina does make a point. These aren't just random people we're fighting. Terrorists have killed and destroyed on massive scales, and Neo Chaos doesn't even believe in any twisted cause to back any of it up. And Murphy is our leader. I can't imagine the kind of stress he must be under."

"Exactly," Tina added, grateful for Salvo's support. "I'm not condoning what he did, and I'm also not saying you don't have a reason to be pissed. I'm just saying that certain things happen for reasons."

Electra sat in silence for a few moments, garnering the waiting stares of her two companions. When she did speak, her voice came out hard, filled with anger towards their leader, and devoid of any of its usual playfulness.

"I hear what you're saying guys, I really do, but just know that I personally wouldn't treat a loyal ally like a turncoat waiting to happen."

Tina and Salvo shared a look.

* * *

 **A/N:** A/N: And there's the third issue down.

It was a long one, I know, and I plan on having the fourth issue be pretty lengthy as well, with more action and drama, this time beginning from Melanie's perspective. Perspectives will switch often in these installments due to having so many characters. Despite this, keep in mind that Blaze is the main character of this fanfiction.

That's what I'll leave you with for now. Until next time,

\- **_Stefan442_**


End file.
